Demigods & Wizards, Journey Through Story One
by ArtemisIsis13
Summary: A strange entity and Apollo transport 8 wizards and witches, 6 demigods, one satyr and one mortal to a secret haven to learn about two different heroes, but there is more to this story than it seems...
1. Wish Upon a Shooting Star

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Wish Upon a Shooting Star**

* * *

**In 1998, England...**

It was only two months after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry Potter was at the Burrow, sitting outside while watching the stars in the sky above. They were beautiful indeed, all sparkling like glitter that had been sprinkled on a dark canvas that was the night sky. With a bottle of Butterbeer in his hands, his eyes are attracted to something that is flying around the night sky. It isn't a person, or creature, or object, but something far in the distance; a shooting star made its way towards the moon.

"Harry, are you out here?"

Harry turned his head around to see one of his best friends/"sister", Hermione Granger, standing in the doorway of the Burrow, a glass of pumpkin juice in her hands. Her bushy brown hair was tied up behind her head and in the moonlight, her face almost looked like it was glowing. She smiled when she saw Harry sitting on the grass and went to join him.

"We were wondering where you went off to," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "Ginny would have come instead of me, but she's with Percy trying to calm down George."

Harry nodded sadly. George was still majorly depressed since Fred died; everyone was, of course. It took a lot to get the poor bloke to just talk anymore, and he would only speak to Percy nowadays more than anyone else, including Lee Jordan, his other best friend.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

"In the loo," Hermione replied, taking another sip of her pumpkin juice. "Why are you out here? I'd thought you'd have got to bed by now."

Harry shook his head. "I needed some fresh air. Need to clear my head, even. It's been a rough few years."

Hermione nodded. "I can understand that completely, Harry. I still have nightmares."

"So do I," Harry muttered, drinking some of his butterbeer. The two of them remained silent, Harry staring at the ground while Hermione looked up at the sky above. For a moment, there was only silence. Then she laughed.

"A shooting star," she said, smiling. "I've never seen one before!"

"Really?" Harry asked, looking back up at the sky to see that the shooting star was still there.

"Yeah, my father once told me that if you wish upon a shooting star, your wish will come true," Hermione said. "But I'm not so sure."

Harry smiled. "What would you wish for?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not in the mood for thinking about wishes. I highly doubt they'd come true. But what would you wish for?"

Harry sighed and frowned. "I don't know. After everything that's happened, I just want peace. If I had a wish, it would probably be a wish to have some fun for once that wouldn't endanger our lives. We haven't had any in ages."

"With everything that's happened, fun never had a chance to be squeezed into our schedule," Hermione joked. "Hopefully, that will change. Though, I thought you might wish for something more...elaborate."

"Like what?"

"Well, I've noticed that you and Ginny are avoiding each other lately," Hermione said innocently, "And I couldn't help but wonder if—"

"Please, let's not start with that again!" Harry pleaded. "Right now I don't want to add anymore stress to anyone."

"Harry, stop being modest about this," Hermione said. "You two are more unhappy than usual, and that's saying a lot."

"Thanks."

Hermione rolled her eyes, exasperated, but decided to drop the subject...for now. She wasn't going to argue about it with him again, but she knew that Harry needed Ginny, just like how she needed Ron, or how George needed everyone; Hermione would be there for him, but she had a feeling that Ginny would do a better job. Harry refused to think about it completely because he promised Ron that he would never touch Ginny again. It pained him more than he would show, but by now he was used to masking his pain. Besides, Ginny could do better than him. He broke her heart after all, shattering his own in the process, but he was going to put a brave face on about it.

Staring at the star, he closed his eyes. _I just want to be happy_, he thought, _Not depressed. I wish I could be happy again._

A voice called them, Mrs. Weasley no doubt, into the house again. The two friends sighed, not wanting to leave the peacefulness of the gentle night, but grudgingly, they both got to their feet, dusted the earth off their pants, and walked into the house where, in the distance, they could once again hear the heartbroken sobs of George Weasley. Harry added something else to his wish: _I want George to find happiness again too. He deserves that. We all do_.

Then he shut the door behind himself and Hermione

* * *

Little did Harry know that his wishes would be granted in an unforeseen, completely unexpected way. As he and Hermione made their way towards George, the shooting star in the sky started to glow purple across the inky canvas of night. It would remember Harry's wish.

Forever.

* * *

**In 2009, Long Island, New York...**

"_And that's the way grandma's armor used to fit!_"

The Apollo cabin finished up their performance in the amphitheater to a round of applause from the other campers of Camp Half-Blood. The Apollo campers bowed to them and melted back into the crowd as Chiron, their activities director, made his way to the front of the amphitheater. He raised his spear (which had a melted marshmallow on it) and saluted the Apollo cabin for their excellent performance. He greeted three new campers. Julia, daughter of Nemesis, Patrick, son of Athena, and Penny, daughter of Demeter, all who blushed as Chiron announced them to the other campers who let out another round of applause.

"Now, it is quite late, and I want all of you to get to bed," Chiron said, smiling as the campers groaned in disappointment. Bette Gilbert and Conner and Travis Stoll, children of Hermes, mockingly groaned that they many important pranks delayed because of this, earning a smack in the head from Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.

However, they did do as they asked. All the campers got to their feet and started they way to the cabins' area where they would meet a warm bed and (hopefully) good dreams. One demigod stood out from the rest of them; a tall teenage guy with waves of black hair on his head and dark green eyes stared at the dying fire in the middle of the emptying amphitheater. Chiron frowned and trotted up to him, ignoring the slight twinge of pain his in hooves as he did so; he still had not fully recovered from their recent battle in Manhattan.

"Percy, my boy, are you feeling well?" Chiron asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I think so, Chiron," Percy replied softly, peeling his eyes away from the small flames. "I know I should feel relieved that this is all over, but...I can't. Rachel's prophecy has me on edge, and I keep thinking about those who died." He looked up at Chiron. "I don't want my life to go under again."

Chiron nodded sadly. "Over the years, I've met many demigods with those exact problems and fears. Some survive and make themselves a life worth of happiness, while others regrettably die in the effort."

"Yeah," Percy said slowly, pretending to frown at him. "The latter doesn't help my mood."

He smiled as his teacher chuckled dryly. "You did well, Percy. It does not do well to focus on the past. It hinders our chances to welcome a brighter future. However, we can study our mistakes and learn to avoid them and, in the hopes of a good life, make better, wiser choices."

Percy, though understanding what Chiron was telling him, was a little bemused by what he said anyhow. He glanced towards the beach and decided on something.

"Chiron, do you think I could go on the beach for a while," Percy asked. He didn't want to give the harpies a chance to devour him; he already had a rough few weeks. "Being close to Dad's realm helps me think better."

The old centaur studied him for a few moments, then nodded his head. "But be there only a few minutes, Percy. The harpies come out in twenty minutes."

Percy nodded and ran off towards the beach. He passed a few Athena boys along the way as he hurried to get to the familiar waters that calmed him as much as soda. He wouldn't take too long here. He just needed a breather. He stopped running as grass turned to gravel, the gravel into sand. He inhaled the salty air and closed his eyes, focusing on relaxing his racing heartbeat. Opening his eyes, he made his way towards the water and kicked off his flip flops before wetting his feet in the cool water.

Percy enjoyed the feel of the waves splashing up on his legs as they journeyed from open sea to the shore. The feel of the sand being swept away around his toes was soothing his spirits as much as his mother's blue cookies. His jumbled thoughts slowly melted away, not completely gone, but a lot less painful to think about. It almost felt like his father was there with him. He hadn't seen him since he left Olympus, but couldn't help feeling pride in the tiny waves as they tumbled into him.

"Need some company, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy turned around to see Annabeth standing a few feet away from him, her arms around each other as she gazed calmly at him. Her gray eyes reflected the moonlight of the night as she came closer to him.

"Hey," Percy said, holding out his hand towards her. "Annabeth, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you get to bed?"

"Shouldn't you?" Annabeth kicked off her shoes and went up to stand by him, her feet slashing in the water. "Chiron told me you came out here. I didn't want you to be alone."

Percy smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for that, Wise Girl."

She smiled and kissed his chin. "You're welcome, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth rested her head on Percy's shoulder as he gazed up at the sky. With the pollution all around, it was hard to see the stars, but not impossible. He could make out Orion, Hercules, Sagittarius, and Zoë the Huntress. He sighed, not wanting to think about her death which would lead him back to what he wanted to avoid thinking about in the first place. He'd thought about death enough for the day.

As he tried to force his thoughts back to relaxing, he noticed something streaking across the night sky; a shooting star. He nudged Annabeth in the ribs.

"Look at that," he said, pointing at the star. Annabeth raised her head and stared up at the night sky. She smiled as she saw what he was pointing at.

"A shooting star," she murmured as the streak of white light made its way passed Zoë. "Do you know it's not actually a star but a meteoroid that burns up as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere? Like what you see in a meteor shower."

Percy pretended to pout. "Really, Annabeth? You just had to spoil that, didn't you?"

Annabeth smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry."

"So, besides you just ruining the '_shooting star_'," Percy joked, ignoring her glare. "My mother used to say that if you made a wish on a shooting star, it will come true... Of course that would be nonsense, right?" He shot her an amused look. Annabeth poked him in the ribs.

"Very funny," Annabeth said. "Since I spoiled one aspect of this, I'll leave the rest alone."

Percy laughed and squeezed her hand affectionately. "Well, thank you."

The two of them broke into laughter. Percy, still enjoying the comfort of the sea and Annabeth's presence, gazed up at the star. _Make a wish_, his mother would have said.

_Make a wish_. Percy closed his eyes, feeling the cool air against his skin. His thoughts, no matter how he tried to push them away, found their way back to the surface of his mind. All the friends he'd lost, all the terror he'd seen. Chiron's words echoed in his memory: _We can study our mistakes and learn to avoid them and, in the hopes of a good life, make better, wiser choices_.

_I wish_, Percy thought to himself, ignoring the little voice in his head that was telling him it was just a game. _I wish I could move on again. To ease the pressure and guilt. To be happy_.

Percy felt Annabeth's tug on his hand; their time was up. Percy sighed and said goodnight to the sea, knowing his father was listening. He and Annabeth put on their shoes and ran back to their cabins right as the harpies started their patrol. Percy tucked into bed and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

The shooting star, or as Annabeth put it, the burning meteoroid, made its journey across the sky, suddenly glowing purple as it did so. It heard Percy's wish and was reminded of another that was yet to be fulfilled. The moment had come, for the both of them.

* * *

**Back in 1998...**

It had been at least a week since Harry and Hermione saw the shooting star. Harry and Hermione were in the Ministry helping organize recruits to the various departments to start rebuilding a better Wizarding World.

Luna and Neville were helping out too, mostly at Hogwarts though. They kept track of all the rebuilding in the corridors along with the teachers and staff. The was slightly unbearable when they came across a body — or a body part — but they were persistent.

Ron was working with Percy at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes since George was unable to go himself. Ron found the job a little tiring, but he wouldn't let his brother's business fail, especially when he was in no emotional state to handle it. Percy was in agreement with him, and did his best to help out. From working in the shop, he was able to see the personality of his younger brother a whole lot better, and it was starting to rub off on him.

Ginny stayed with George, trying to comfort him the best she could, though she was inching to go out and help the others. She found herself holding her brother in his teary states, or telling his stories and singing him songs, just to calm him down when a Calming Draught wasn't available.

No one was expecting anything major to happen that day.

Suddenly, a burning feather, like that of a Phoenix, dropped out out of nowhere in front of each of them. All eight friends stumbled backwards in shock. The feather floated mid-air for a few moments, and then suddenly a voice came out of it. To all of them, the voices were different. Ginny heard Harry, Harry heard Ginny; Ron heard Hermione, Hermione heard Ron; Luna heard her father; Neville heard his grandmother; Percy heard George; George heard Fred. And in unison, all the voices said, "_Come now! It's important!_" And before any of them could question what was going on, the feathers shot forward and tapped each other them on the head. Their visions went black.

* * *

**Back in 2009...**

Six campers walked up to the beach together, all looking confused. Another was waiting there for them with a girl with spiky black hair and punk-Goth clothes.

"Thalia!" Annabeth exclaimed, running over to hug her friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with your hunters!"

"I was," Thalia said, hugging her back. "But then Rachel here," she gestured to a girl with frizzy red hair and green eyes, "Iris-messaged me and said to come over to camp. She said it was urgent."

"So, what is it?" Percy asked. He and the other campers had gotten similar messages from Rachel and had come over to see what the problem was.

"Apollo sent me a few messages and this box," Rachel said, holding up a few letters in her hands. On the sand next to here was a plain brown box, taped up and new. "In the first letter, he said that we needed these campers: _Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood, Conner Stoll, Travis Stoll, Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, and myself Rachel Elizabeth Dare_." As she read off these names she ignored the winces of Percy and Thalia for addressing them by their full names.

"Why?" Nico asked.

"What's what we're here to find out," Rachel said. "The next letter says that we all need to hold hands."

"What?" snickered the Stolls. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope." Rachel said, and as she said it, golden cords sprung out into life around their hands, joining them in a circle.

"What the Hades?" Travis exclaimed.

Nico scowled. "Watch it, you—!" But he never got a chance to finish what he had to say because suddenly, all of them blacked out.

* * *

**I starting to get blocked with Ginny's story now. It's starting to get irritating. I've been thinking up this one way before hers so I thought I'd just upload it. It's just a starting chapter and it'll be a small while until I get to the point, but don't worry, I will.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	2. There's Something New Here

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Something New**

* * *

Harry opened his eyes.

He was lying on a comfortable bed in a bedroom he was sure that he'd never seen in his life. The walls were white, the sheer curtains were red, his sheets were warm brown, the floor was hardwood and shiny; the furniture was mahogany and finely polished; there was a vase of lilies next to his bed. He was wearing different clothes too; they looked fashionable, but not something he would wear unless it was a special occasion: a white silk shirt and neatly pressed black pants. He fumbled around until he found his wand and glasses on the nightstand next to him. Silently, he got out of the bed, careful not to make a sound. He didn't know where he was, or if anyone with there. He wasn't going to risk trouble.

'_Where am I?_' He thought to himself calmly. '_Am I dreaming?_'

Harry approached the wide window and peeked through the blinds. His jaw dropped and he pulled the curtains wide open. He had to be hallucinating. There was no way that what he was seeing was real. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nothing had changed. He pinched his arm really hard. Nope, he wasn't dreaming, but his arm hurt.

He supposed it was daytime outside, but the sky was so...unusual. It was blue with a purple haze around it. The moon was very close in sight, shining silver down at him. But further away he saw the golden sun. It was bright, but it wasn't blinding him at all. That couldn't happen.

'_I must be dreaming_,' he pondered to himself. '_This honestly can't be real_.'

* * *

Percy didn't remember falling asleep, and neither did he remember leaving the beach.

Percy's head spun as he sat forward on a soft bed. He definitely didn't recognize the room he was in. The other guys were gone too. The room inside was very beautiful: light blue walls embedded with sea shells, white washed furniture, soft, dark blue sheets, dark green carpet. Percy looked around and saw his sword, Riptide, next to a bowl of coral on the nightstand next to him.

'_Are the gods messing with me?_' he thought as he climbed out of the comfy bed. He looked down and realized his clothes had changed. Instead of his camp clothes, he was wearing a dark sea-green Hawaiian shirt with color prints and khaki beach shorts and flip-flops.

'_I look like my father_,' he thought to himself. '_Not so bad, actually_.'

Percy snatched up his pen and tiptoed towards the door. He was going to find out where he was and see if the others were okay.

* * *

Harry held his wand aloft as he quietly walked down the hallway. The walls were bright and lit up with odd sunlight from outside, but he still couldn't figure out what was going on. Even in his dreams, something would have happened by now. It didn't like a nightmare about to happen, but the more he moved around, the more he began to think he really wasn't dreaming...

He passed several doors on the way down the hall, but he didn't want to look inside in case he should meet something dangerous or deadly. He reached the end of the hall and carefully scanned the area. There was a staircase to his left and he silently made his way towards it. He walked down the wooden steps, grateful that none of them squeaked under his weight and entered a fine living room. It was a little bigger than the Gryffindor common room, and nearly half the size of the Great Hall.

It was bright in there. The walls were marble, both black and white with gold and diamonds. The floor was hardwood with a large black carpet in the very middle, hiding most of the floor away. There were four wide burgundy couches facing towards a brilliant fireplace to his right in the form of a '**U**', but there was a gap separating two couches on the left from those on the right. The tall windows, framed with scarlet silk, were open, filtering in that strange bluish-purple light from outside, but inside it turned white and normal. Across the room, he saw stairs leading back up but remembered that he hadn't seen another way when he was upstairs himself.

They must lead somewhere else.

He started his way forward when he saw the shadow of a person descending the other staircase. Quickly, Harry dashed behind one of the couches, listening carefully for who it might be. The other person was just as quiet as him, but he could sense his presence; it was really powerful...and somewhat dangerous. Harry peeked around he couches to see who it was. It was a teenage boy, probably around his age or younger, though he taller than him. He had unruly black hair, almost like him, and green eyes, darker than his. He was wearing muggle clothes that would be worn on a vacation to the Caribbean maybe. He didn't seem remotely dangerous, but looks could be deceiving. The guy's eyes were alert and fierce, like he was sensing danger and in his hand — was that a wand? No, Harry corrected himself. It was a pen.

Why would he have a pen?

* * *

As soon as Percy got to the main room — or at least he thought it was the main room — he knew he wasn't alone. He had passed all the other rooms in the hallway upstairs and though he wanted to look inside each other them, he figure it wouldn't be the wisest thing to do, considering he was in unknown territory waters, and had no clue about what was going on. He gripped Riptide tightly as he scanned the room. He was sure someone else was in here, someone with lots of powers and probably dangerous. Yet, he didn't feel like he was in danger. He had to be careful about that.

'_What did Rachel get us into?_' he thought to himself as he stepped towards the window. He already got over the shock of seeing the sky outside. He would know if it were a dream and was very sure it wasn't at all.

Apollo had something to do with this. He was sure about it. After all, that was the one god Rachel had spoken of before he blacked out. Looking back on it, he began to worry about where his friends were. Annabeth. Thalia. Grover. Nico. Rachel. Conner. Travis. He didn't know where they were, and they had been the last people to be around him.

He heard a sudden movement to his right and spun around, ready to uncap his pen. Quietly, he cautiously approached the semi-circle of couches. There was something behind one of them. Or maybe it was someone.

Percy raised his head a little higher. He could see untidy black hair peeking out from behind one of the couches. He readied his pen, just in case he had to fight whoever it was.

"Get out from there," Percy ordered. "Now."

* * *

Harry nearly gasped. That guy knew he was here. And he had ordered him to come out. He didn't sound British at all. On the contrary, he sounded... American. Harry focused himself and gripped tighter to his wand.

"Who are you?" Harry asked firmly.

Harry was sure he wasn't a dark wizard. If he had been, they would have been fighting by now.

"Who are YOU?" The guy asked, his voice angry. "And I told you to come out."

"Like that's going to happen," Harry said, ready to cast a spell at the boy. "Where am I?"

There was a small pause. "I don't know. I woke up here. I was going to ask you that myself." The kid sounded uncertain. "I don't want to fight anybody, but if I have to, I will. Now, come out from behind there."

Harry hesitated. From the tone of his voice, Harry knew he wasn't lying to him. Preparing himself for the worst, Harry stood up from behind the couch to face the teenager in front of him. The guy looked confused, his pen clutched firmly in his hand like his life depended on it.

"I've never seen you before," he said quietly, twirling his pen. "This isn't some kind of joke from Apollo, is it?"

Harry didn't understand what this guy was talking about. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on. Who's Apollo?"

"My cousin," the other said, sounding annoyed. "Who are you?"

"I'm Harry."

"I'm Percy."

"My best friend's brother's name is Percy," Harry said without thinking. He knew it wasn't his Percy for sure.

"Well...I don't know anyone named '_Harry_', sorry."

Harry couldn't help but smile but it faded quickly. "You honestly don't know why you're here. Or where we are?"

Percy shook his head. "The last thing I remember was being with my friends and then...I blacked out." Percy sounded worried. "You didn't see anyone else around here. Have you?"

Harry shook his head as well. "You're the first person I've seen. And I think I'm having the weirdest dream. Did you see the sky outside?"

"Yeah, and I've seen stranger," Percy said, grimacing. "Bloody quests..."

Harry frowned and raised his wand to wave in the air. "_Homenum revelio!_" Harry said, and the spell went through the house. In the end, he realized they weren't alone. There were, including him, at least sixteen people in the building.

Percy stared at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"There are sixteen people in this house," Harry informed him. He was sure this guy wasn't normal. He didn't seem like a wizard, but not a muggle either. "That includes us."

"And how do you know that?" Percy asked skeptically.

"Magic."

Percy scoffed. "I hate magic. It's always finding ways to ruin my life."

Harry frowned. "I love magic. Just not _dark magic_."

"I could understand that," Percy nodded, still not happy. "Do you know who else is here?"

Harry shrugged. "That spell I used can reveal to me if we were alone, and we're not. I sensed their presence, and only seven of them are familiar to me. I think my friends are here."

"The others might be my friends," Percy noted eagerly. "There were eight of us at the beach."

"Where was this beach of yours?" Harry asked curiously. He was sure that Percy wasn't an immediate threat, so it was best to keep things friendly unless something bad happened.

"Long Island," Percy said absently. "You sound British. Are you from Europe?"

"England," Harry said. "I take it you're from America?"

"New York." Percy looked down at his pen and muttered something in a strange language. Now it was Harry's turn to look at him like he was crazy.

* * *

"_Vos es non serius, es vos?_," Percy muttered angrily to himself in Latin rather than Greek.

Percy studied Riptide. He was sure that Harry was no immediate threat unless he forced him to be, and since he was in no mood for a fight, he would be a civil as possible. He thought about those rooms upstairs. Maybe his friends were in those rooms. He voiced this aloud and Harry nodded like it would be a good suggestion.

"You could be right," Harry muttered. "I passed seven rooms on my way here."

"So did I..." Percy replied. "Hey, maybe we should go—" He didn't have time to finish.

Harry pointed towards the staircase Percy had descended. There was a shadowy figure coming down. It look human, but for a shadow, quite deformed. Harry raised his stick, at least that's what Percy was calling it. What was he supposed to think it was? A wand?

A dark aura started to seep into the room, darking the atmosphere. Percy uncapped his pen and held his sword in front of him. Harry stumbled away in shock.

"Where did that come from?" he asked in a hissing whisper, his green eyes wide behind his round glasses.

"Shut up!" Percy said and pointed the wall next to the stairs. "Stand there! Now!" Percy pointed to the right wall next to the staircase.

Harry, though still staring at Riptide in surprise, did as he was told and stood flat against the wall. Percy did the same from the opposide side. The only way someone would see them was if they'd reach the bottom stair. The two held their breath as the dark creature approached. It stopped a few stairs up.

'_Probably looking inside the room_,' Percy thought.

When it saw nothing, it walked into the room. As one, Harry and Percy jumped the creature and -

"HEY! Hey, what the — Percy? It's me!" Nico exclaimed loudly, withdrawing the dark aura he had been emanating. "It's _me_! Nico! Let me go!"

Percy, realizing that it was indeed the son of Hades, let him go. "Harry, it's okay, let him go!"

Harry obeyed him and hurried away from Nico, his eyes wider than before. He held his stick in front of himself defensively, shielding himself from Nico. He looked frightened. Percy turned back to Nico and could see why.

Nico's dark eyes looked bigger and blacker than usual. He was wearing black denim jeans and black dress shoes with a black t-shirt printed with skulls under a black leather jacket. His smooth, pale olive-toned skin was white like a ghost and his eyes were alight with black flames. He looked menacing, maniacal... terrifying. He was radiating death and darkness all around him. A source of protection.

"It's okay, Harry, he'd not going to hurt you," Percy said, glaring at Nico. "Right, Nico?"

Nico stared at Harry and then realized what was happening. Slowly, the fire died out of his eyes and his face relaxed into a more polite expression, not terrifying or menacing, but his eyes were still maniacal, like his father.

"Who's this?" he asked, looking at Harry. Then he frowned. "Do I know you?"

"Not that I know of," Harry replied.

"That's strange," Nico muttered. "You look familiar..." He stared at Harry like he was vaguely familiar with the guy, which was weird because Percy was sure that he'd never seen Harry before, but that didn't mean he knew all the people Nico did.

"Nico, this is Harry," Percy said. "Harry, this is Nico. He's a sort-of cousin, I guess."

Nico turned his curious eyes from Harry and pretended to glare at Percy. "Thanks, Percy." He turned back to Harry. "We're not really related, but our fathers are brothers."

Harry raised an eyebrow as he lowered his wand. "Um, how is that supposed to work?"

"It's complicated," Nico and Percy said plainly.

Suddenly, footsteps rained down from each staircase.

Nico, Percy and Harry ran to the middle of the living room as two groups of people came running out at them. One came from Harry's staircase: three were girls, one with blond hair and gray eyes, another with bushy brown hair and brown eyes, and another with red hair and brown eyes. The rest were men, one with dark blond hair, almost brown, and light brown eyes; the others had red hair and freckly skin.

Percy turned around and saw a more familiar group.

Annabeth, Thalia, Conner, Travis, and Rachel were there, all dressed differently than he last remembered. Annabeth was wearing faded blue shorts, a simple white top, and sandals. Thalia was wearing a midnight blue leather jacket, short blue cotton top, denim black jeans and black combat boots. Conner was wearing a red t-shirt and olive green beach shorts and white flip flops. Travis was wearing something similar except his t-shirt was yellow. Rachel was wearing a ripped brown jeans and a sleeveless top with a scarf wrapping her hair back in a ponytail.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed, running forward to hug her boyfriend. "Thank the gods, you're alright!"

"You too," Percy said, hugging her back. He looked up at his other friends. "Are you guys okay?"

They nodded at him, but their eyes were directed over his shoulder. Rachel pursed her lips in confusion, and then went back up the staircase.

"What?" came a voice from behind him. "Harry, who are they?"

* * *

**That's the second chapter done. It won't be long before the story begins, but I just want to put up with the greetings. This isn't something they would be used to. And a simple question that you don't have to answer: Why does Nico find Harry familiar? Any thoughts?**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	3. Introductions Before Reading

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Introductions Before Reading**

* * *

Harry turned around to see his friends arrive and relief swept through his body. He noticed that they were all dressed differently, like him. Hermione was wearing a knee length light-brown skirt and a cream blouse. Her bushy hair was straighter, more curly than before and she was wearing sandals. Ron was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. Percy was dressed in black jeans and a light blue shirt. His glasses looked newer and his hair spiked up in the air, more fun that his serious nature. George was wearing black jeans too and a red jumper. Neville was wearing a grey jumper and blue jeans. All the men were wearing white trainers.

Luna was wearing a simple silvery dress with a blue waistband and her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She wore simple white slippers on her feet. Harry turned to Ginny and his heart skipped a beat. She was wearing a red skirt that reached her knees and it flowed around her like a flower. Her blouse was a pretty shade of yellow and her hair was curled back. She looked beautiful. Harry almost forgot what was going on until Percy spoke.

"What?" Percy Weasley said, indicating to the other side of the room. "Harry, who are they?"

Harry turned back toward the new group which was greeting Percy. The other Percy, he reminded himself. The American one. He found it awkward to be in a room with two Percys.

"Oh," Harry said, smirking. "Nothing Percy. Oh, I want you guys to meet someone. This is Percy." He gestured to the one with the sword.

The American Percy broke into startled laughter. "Oh, that's your friend?"

Two of American Percy's friends, who looked so alike they could be twins, came forward, smirking. The one to the left said, "Wait, wait! Two Percys?"

"That is—" The other said.

"Absolutely and positively—" the first said.

"Hilarious!" They said in unison before bursting into hysterical laughter. Harry's heart thudded dully. They reminded him of Fred and George when Fred was still alive. He saw what he felt in the expression of his friends' faces. George looked like someone had punched him hard in the gut.

"Shut it, you too!" The blond girl ordered. Her eyes were grey like storm clouds and so fierce in made him gulp. In reminded him of Mrs. Weasley's glare. The two guys stopped laughing, but they were still smiling.

The girl turned to her Percy. "Percy, who are they?"

"There's one way to find out," a voice said from behind her. A girl was marching down the staircase with a box under one arm and letters in the other. "Apollo must have sent us here. He must have had a good reason." She could have been a Weasley from her red hair and freckles.

There's that Apollo again, Harry thought. Hermione came forward and grabbed his arm.

"Who are they?" she whispered to him. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out," Harry reassured her.

"So, Rachel, where are we?" Nico asked, his arms folding. Harry backed away from the kid slowly. He was probably no older than thirteen or fourteen, but he was downright scary. He terrified him as much as a basilisk. Plus, the way he looked at him was odd, like he was trying to figure out something. He never saw this before in his life and was sure he had nothing to do with him.

The red head, Rachel no doubt, smiled at him and opened a letter. "Be patient, di Angelo," she said as she opened another letter and read it quickly. "Ah, I see," she said raising her head. "Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, come forward." Harry started as his name was called but he and Percy approached Rachel. "The rest of you should take a seat. We'll be here a while."

"Why should we listen to you?" Ron asked rudely. "We don't even know who you are!"

"Ron, please, not now!" Hermione pleaded.

"I think we should listen," Luna said softly taking a seat on one of the couches. "It sounds important."

The two groups hesitated. Harry saw his friends looking at him, as if waiting for his orders. He saw the same thing for Percy and his friends. It looked like they were the leaders. Harry nodded to his friends who sat down on the couches to the right on the fireplace while the others sat on the left. They waited.

"They could be dark wizards," Ron muttered to Harry.

"We don't know that for sure," Harry muttered back.

* * *

Percy looked at Annabeth before turning to Rachel. "Um, where's Grover?" he asked.

"O-O-O-over here!" he heard Grover bleat.

Everyone looked around as the satyr trotted down the stairs. He was wearing a plain "Save the Wildlife" T-Shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He was wearing his Rasta cap again which Percy hadn't seen in a long while. Grover walked over to him and gave him a hug before going to sit by Thalia.

"I heard part of your conversation from upstairs," he said. "I would've been down soon, but there were these really pretty flowers that—"

"We got it, Goat Boy," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "Rachel, would you please read that?"

"Of course," Rachel said. "Okay, Apollo says in this letter:

_**Dear friends, old and new, welcome to 'Astéria tou nefelomatos' or 'Stars of Nebula'. You may not be familiar with this particular star and that's because it's rare for mortal man to ever seen it since Galileo, though he never admit seeing it himself. You might mistake it for a shooting star, but in truth, this star was born millenia ago to grant particular wishes to the askers, which are very rare. Artemis, my dear sister, has informed me that young Percy Jackson made a wish on this star. The Fates have further informed me that in 1998, a young man named Harry Potter made a similar wish like Percy's and now it's time for it to be granted. Do not pester them for information about this because they may not be too willing to share. As to how you got where you are, it was magic. Rare and powerful magic. Don't worry, it's not harmful.**_

_**Now both groups are from different times and generations. Yet be known that all of you have experienced difficulties and dangers in your young lives and have been brought here to share your experiences. You are all in a special land provided by the wish of the Star, and it has no name, but I guarantee that you will be safe here. Note to Mr. di Angelo: he can't summon anyone here. Time has frozen where you all are so you could think you have been gone for weeks, but you've barely missed a few seconds.**_

_**You all are from different sorts of magic. Take care that besides that, you are all on the same side of good. You can trust each other here. You may be skeptical of each other, but just remember you're own experiences. Sometimes you have the better end. Sometimes it's the worser.**_

_**As for you Rachel, My Oracle, You have been given thirteen books. Seven are about Harry and six are about Percy. I advise you to read Percy's first. You all could do with a share of his humor.**_

_**So if I want to update you all, I will send another letter to Rachel.**_

_**From Phoebus Apollo.**_

_**P.S. Don't be mad at Aphrodite and me for changing your clothes. She was upset that I said to downside the fashion rate, but I figured you all wouldn't be so pleased. You have extra clothes in your rooms and there's a kitchen that will supply you all unlimited amount with food. And the showers work well. There are four of them there for you all. And enjoy yourselves here. It'll be fun. Trust me.**_

"Trust him?" Nico repeated. "He could have given us a warning."

"Oh, hush up," Rachel said. "This means we have to get to know each other."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Percy said, turning to Harry. "Are you bothered?"

Harry shook his head. "No, not really. I guess we should introduce ourselves."

"Harry, are you sure?" The blond boy asked. "I mean, we don't know them."

"The idea is to get to know them," Harry corrected him.

* * *

Harry knew his friends didn't want to do this, but he had a feeling that they should.

"Come on, you guys," he heard Percy say as he went to sit between the blond girl and the guy with the Rasta cap. "Let's introduce ourselves."

The group suddenly started rambling in a strange language different than of what he had heard Percy speak in earlier. He then realized that Rachel was struggling to understand them. He had a feeling that she was having trouble with the translation. She caught his eye and smiled at him, gesturing that he go and sit down. He did just that and went to sit between Ron and Ginny. Ginny was glaring at Rachel whose smile faded as she went to sit between Nico and one of the twin guys.

"We aren't really going to stay with them, are we?" she asked uncertainly. "This is all too weird. Did you actually wish on a star?"

"Yes," Harry said, blushing. "I wished we could have an experience that was fun. I haven't had that in a long time."

They all stared at him. Harry could tell that Hermione was slightly amused though she didn't really show it. After all, Harry assumed that she hadn't believed in making a wish on a star. She glanced over at the other group which was staring at them.

"Let's just introduce ourselves first and then go on with this," she suggested.

"Okay then, that's sounds reasonable," The blond girl said. "Who first?"

"Me first," Hermione said. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Hermione?" Annabeth said. Hermione nodded, blushing. The Brits all knew that Hermione's name was unusual. Harry hoped that the Americans wouldn't tease her for it. "I always thought that was a pretty name." Harry smiled. This girl seemed familiar with it. "It was the name of Queen Helen's daughter."

Harry didn't understand what she was talking about, but was pleased that this made Hermione smile. "I know. My parents told me about that, but they named me after the character from Shakespeare." She sounded pleased.

"I'm Ronald Weasley," Ron said, "But you can call me Ron."

"You already know my name," Harry said. "Harry Potter." He was surprised but pleased when he saw that they didn't gawk at him like other people.

"Ginevra Weasley," Ginny said distastefully. "But don't call me that, ever. I go by Ginny."

"So if we call you Ginevra—" one of the brown-haired boys stared but he stopped when he saw her glare.

"She'd hurt you," Harry said, pride in his voice. He couldn't help it. He thought it was a sweet name. Then he remembered that he was supposed to stay away from her, which was hard when she was sitting right next to him. He blushed and went silent.

"Wow, she got him to shut up," the girl with the spiky black hair said. "I don't care if I know her or not, she has my respect."

Ginny blushed.

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna said dreamily.

"That's a beautiful name," Rachel said, genuinely smiling at Luna. "I've never heard a name like that before. It's unique. I like that."

Luna smiled.

"I have a feeling you'll get along," Nico joked, earning a slam from the girl who complimented Ginny.

"I'm Neville Longbottom," Neville said. The guys snorted but they said nothing. "I take it that's an unusual name too."

"Well, yes," they all said. American Percy added, "Neville, we've heard of. Longbottom, we haven't."

Neville nodded, understanding.

"I'm George Weasley," George said softly, sniffling. Percy Weasley gave him a tissue. "Thanks."

"What's wrong?" American Percy asked, sounding concerned. British Percy shook his head.

"Give him a minute," he said. "He's been this way since the war."

"You were in a war too?" American Percy asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered. He didn't need to ask Percy if he had been in a war himself. The tone of his voice was enough to tell him and all his friends that.

"Percy, let them finish," Nico said. He, too, looked concerned for George.

"I'm Percy Weasley," Percy said, and all the Americans burst into laughter. Percy smiled. "And I see you have a Percy of your own."

"Is that your whole first name?" American Percy asked. Percy nodded. "We'll mine is just a nickname. I hate to be addressed by my full first name."

"What is it?"

"Perseus."

"Oh."

The whole room laughed loudly.

"I guess It's our turn," the blond girl said. "I'm Annabeth Chase."

"Percy Jackson," Percy said.

"Grover Underwood," the guy in the Rasta cap said.

"Thalia Grace," said the girl who complimented Ginny.

"Nico di Angelo," Nico said.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Rachel said.

"Conner Stoll," one of the twins said. "And this is my brother, Travis," he continued, pointing at his brother. "Most people think we're twins, but we're not. Travis is a year older. The old man." Travis glared at him.

"Ha ha, Travis. I'm Conner."

"No, I am!"

"Nu-uh! I am!"

"Will you two cut it out?" Thalia demanded. The two blushed and identified themselves correctly.

George almost smiled at that moment, remembering how he and Fred always pulled that out on people they didn't know just to confuse them. Every single one of friends were looking at him, remembering too.

* * *

**There, that's chapter three. One more filler and then the reading is up.**

**To _Fourteen things_: I most definitely agree that Nico is awesome, but he doesn't know everything. Although, we never really know what he knows, so hey, maybe he does. Thanks for reviewing. :)**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	4. Let's Get On With It

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Let's Start**

* * *

"So what are these books about, anyways?" Neville asked.

Rachel pulled the box close to her feet and pulled out the book at the very top of the big pile. Some were thin others were thick. The demigods, except Annabeth and Thalia, scowled at them. Lots were thicker than their hands.

"Apollo said start Percy's stories first," Nico said. "How many are there for Percy? Six?"

"Yes, these six," Rachel confirmed, holding up the six books. Some looked bigger than the other but they weren't as big as the other books which apparently belonged to Harry since they had his name on them. "They are all about Percy's adventures. The rest belong to Harry."

"What are they called?" Hermione asked.

Rachel read all of the titles. "They belong to a series called _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_. There's—"

"The Olympians?" British Percy asked. "What is that? The term is somewhat familiar. I probably came across it while reading..."

"Oi, not another brainiac!" Conner exclaimed. "First the Athena Cabin, now him?"

"Athena Cabin?"

The Greeks looked at the other group and realized that they still hadn't explained what they were. They themselves didn't know about the other group and they were sure that they weren't demigods.

"Well, we're a different sort of...not species, but we're not completely human," Annabeth said hesitantly. "Have you ever heard of Hercules? Heracles, if you will? King Midas or Cyclopes? Even if you don't know the stories?"

Half of them shook their heads, but Hermione, British Percy, Harry and Luna nodded their heads.

"Well, Heracles was a half-blood in Greek mythology," Annabeth continued. "Do you know what a Half-Blood is?"

"I know Harry's a half-blood," Ron spoke up. "His father was a pure-blood and his mother was a muggle-born."

"Ron, I don't think that's what they meant," Hermione said. "I've read a small bit about Greek Mythology, but not much. After all, '_Hermione_' is a Greek name and it belonged to the daughter of Helen of Troy. I've definitely heard of Heracles. He's mostly referred to as Hercules now. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. A half-blood." She realized what Annabeth was saying. "A demigod."

"I've heard of them," Harry said. "When I was still in Muggle school. The stories fascinated me, but I had not a huge interest."

"Well, demigods do exist nowadays," Annabeth said, happy that someone in the group was understanding. Maybe she would help the others understand too. "Besides Rachel and Grover, the rest of us are demigods. The gods themselves are real. They're our family."

There was brief silence from the British group. They all stared at the Americans like they were mad people.

"You guys are bloody insane," Ron muttered. "There's no such thing."

"Oh yeah?" Thalia asked, standing up. "I'm the daughter of Zeus, King of the Gods and Lord of the Sky himself."

And to prove it, she raised her hand, allowing electricity to run along her skin. Ron jumped in his seat, staring as the electricity flared its way up to Thalia's hair, expanding the spiky locks into the air, each strand sparking with the deadly power. Thalia smiled at their reaction and defused her power, looking normal but not as completely harmless as before.

Before anyone could get over Thalia's revelation, Nico stepped up and opened his hand. A ball of black fire erupted from his flesh, sending Ron jumping higher than before. He accidentally smacked his elbow in Harry's face while doing it, earning himself a hard punch in the arm.

"And I'm the son of Hades, God of the Dead," Nico spoke up. "That's why I radiate darkness. Sorry about that too," he added as he saw Harry's startled expression. "It's a protection mechanism I have. Wards away unwanted creatures. And people." He gave Harry that odd look again, like he was trying to figure out where he'd seen him, but after another minute, he gave up. No one else noticed.

"Glad to know we're wanted by you," Conner said sarcastically.

Nico turned on the defense mechanism again and everyone, including the bravest in the room, backed away in fear. Nico's eyes shone with hellfire, making his irises look bigger and more imitating than they were, before he put his powers out and laughed. The sound didn't match the fear. It was bright and infectious, like a little boy in a candy store. It eased everyone back into their old positions, but they all glanced at Nico nervously.

"I'm a daughter of Athena," Annabeth said. "She's the goddess of wisdom. She's also a maiden goddess, but I don't want to get into how she has children. It will just scar you."

"It's scarred me," Percy muttered, remembering when Annabeth explained it to him how he felt. Annabeth smacked his head, smirking.

"We're sons of Hermes," Conner and Travis chimed up. "God of thieves, roads, Messenger of the Gods et cetera," they added proudly. Travis pulled out a wand from his pocket, and though he didn't really know what it was, he twirled it around curiously. Ron saw it and inhaled sharply.

"_Hey!_ That's mine!" he protested, reaching forward and snatching it out of Travis's hand. The others searched their pockets quick and were relieved when they all had their wands with them. The Stolls smirked evilly.

"I'm mortal," Rachel said. "But I serve Apollo as his Oracle. I make prophecies for the demigods."

"I don't like prophecies," Harry muttered darkly. He remembered the Prophecy about him and shuddered lightly. It not only reminded him of what he had had to go through, but the Hall of Prophecies too, which seemed like over-kill.

"Neither to we," The Greeks agreed. They definitely had enough of Prophecies. The old Oracle had made sure of that.

Grover sighed. "I'm not human at all. Not demigod or mortal. I'm actually a satyr." And the prove it, he kicked off his shoes to show them his hooves.

"That's not normal," Ron said, staring. "Not at all! At least I've seen stranger things. Being a wizard and all."

"A wizard?" Thalia asked, perplexed.

"Wait, that stick you had," Percy said, looking at Harry, and then looking at Ron who was still holding his. "When you said, um, 'Homenum revelio', or something like that, you used that stick! It's a wand, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. "We're witches and wizards. We do magic. We even go to school to learn it."

"_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "It's a wonderful school. Like a second home to all of us, but at the moment, it's partially destroyed, but it'll be fixed soon."

"I hate school," Conner and Travis grumbled. "We always get it trouble and the work is awful."

"I'm lucky I don't ever have to go," Nico said grimly. "That doesn't mean I don't have to study."

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

Nico sighed. "Trust me on this. When you live in the Underworld, you realize that your father would go around Elysium or Asphodel to find dead teachers to tutor you, whether it's you basic school work, languages, and even swordplay. Not subtle. The freakiest sort of homeschooling, _ever_."

Everyone in the room shuddered. Travis said, "I don't envy your life."

"I know," Nico said, nodded. "At you don't have Demeter on your tail, nagging about not eating enough cereal." The Greeks shuddered some more. Even the Demeter cabin admitted that their mother went overboard on the cereal and grains. They were lucky not to be born so obsessive like her.

Rachel opened one of the books and a note fell out. "Guys, there's something else. It says '**_Start reading the books. Trust me, explanations will come up. As Percy learns, so will you. And as Harry learns, so will you. Love, Aphrodite_**.' Hmm, seems like she knows what's going on."

"All the gods probably do," Thalia sighed. "What's this one called?"

Rachel held up the book for them all to see. The blue cover displayed a stormy sky over a city that looked like Manhattan. There was a boy with windswept hair and an orange t-shirt standing in the water looking towards the city with a horn in one hand and a sword in the other. A bolt of lightning flashed across the Empire State Building. The title was in big letters for them all to see.

Rachel said, "**The Lightning Thief**." At these words, Percy groaned. Thalia on the other hand perked up.

"Oh, let's read now, like they're telling us to!" she pleaded eagerly. She grinned evilly at Percy. "That way we can know what's really going on in his head."

"Kill me now," Percy said dispassionately. He covered his eyes and sank deeply into the couch between Annabeth and Grover. Harry felt sorry for him. He knew when Percy's story was done, his would be next. He would soon know how Percy was feeling, and he was betting it wasn't good.

"No," Everyone said.

Then Rachel said, "Annabeth, would you do the honors?"

"Of course," she said, smirking at her boyfriend's sour expression.

"I've been thinking," Ginny said suddenly. "I guess we could all take turns reading chapters. Give everyone time to rest their voice after their turn." They found it agreeable. "And, since our groups have a Percy in each, I think we should have a way to identify them. Makes it easier not to mistake them."

"We can call our Percy 'Perseus'." Conner cowered in Percy's glare.

"No," British Percy said. "Since this story is calling Percy Jackson by his first name, we'll stick with my nickname."

"Pompous Prat?" Ron asked, dodging a slap from Hermione, but receiving one from Ginny. The Greeks snickered. "Okay, just Prat?" This time, George hit him, glaring through red eyes. That shut Ron up.

"I was thinking 'Perce'," British Percy said. "Bill and Charlie love calling me that."

They considered that. "Deal."

"Okay, let's start reading," Nico said eagerly. "I can't wait to see Percy embarrass himself!"

Percy groaned miserably. Annabeth giggled and opened the book. Clearing her throat, she began to read.

* * *

**And there is chapter four. Finally, we can begin the book. It will take a while, but I promise I'll finish all of Percy's stories and Harry's. It'll just take a long while. I might not update frequently, but I'll go along as much as I can.**

**To _SakraTheHedgie_: It will definitely take a while to write it all, but I'll do my best. As for Nico's part on Harry, I'm not giving that away. The best part of that secret is that you could use your imagination, but the answer isn't coming anytime soon. Thanks for the review :D  
**

**~Artemis Isis**


	5. Accidentally Vaporize PreAlgebra Teacher

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

**Finally, the reading begins. This will be the last one for the day. No guarantee the next one will be up tomorrow because I have school to go to. It'll be a long day. That's for the previous reviews from SakraTheHedgie and Fourteen things. That put a big smile on my face today. I hope you enjoy this one guys. :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher**

* * *

"**Chapter One: I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher**," Annabeth read. "Excuse me?"

Percy smiled grimly. "Keep reading, Annabeth."

"That is an odd title," Luna stated. Nobody answered her.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Did you know you were a half-blood already?" Harry asked. Percy shook his head.

"I found that out after—" he paused. "We'll find out in the book."

"Yes, we will," Rachel said. "It's written in first person. Sort of a go-along-as-it-comes. This is supposed to be read from an outsider's point-of-view, like the person is learning what is going on."

"That's helpful," Ginny said. "That way it's easier for us."

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.**

"That's not advice," Conner said.

"Wait until I'm done!" Annabeth said irritably.

**Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"We've almost died in painful nasty ways," Ron said. "And we're not demigods."

"We're wizards," Hermione said. "It's bad enough."

They heard a sniff coming from George. His head was on Perce's shoulder, a blanket over his own shoulders. His eyes were rimmed red but he waved Annabeth on to continue.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages if you feel something stirring inside, stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"Are you trying to scare us?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," Percy said. "I don't remember ever thinking this."

**My name is Percy Jackson. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that.**

"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked. The demigods laughed as Percy blushed.

"Annabeth, please continue."

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan. Twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

**I know it sounds like torture.**

"No it doesn't," Annabeth, Rachel, Hermione, Ginny, Perce, Thalia, and Luna said. Then Rachel added, "Except for the mental-case kids. The museum isn't torture."

"Well, it was to me," Percy said reproachfully.

**Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class.**

"Lucky!" Conner, Travis, and Ron exclaimed.

**He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"Like how Trelawney and Binns put us to sleep?" Harry mumbled under his breath. He and Ron laughed silently.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"What happened?" Perce asked.

"We'll find out," Percy replied.

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

"You blew up a school bus?" Rachel and Hermione shouted while the rest of them, except George, laughed. Then Hermione said alone, "Someone could have gotten hurt!"

"No one did," Percy said absently.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

"Were you swimming with the sharks?" Ron asked, his eyes wide with fear.

"Yes," Percy said, "but they didn't bother us. They just nudged us around." He nearly smirked at the frightened looks on their faces. With the son of Poseidon in the water, the sharks wouldn't have attacked, even though they hadn't been fed yet. Of course, Percy couldn't remember telling them who his father was.

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.**

"How much trouble did you get into?" Ginny asked.

"Let's just say I was always expelled at the end of the year," Percy said.

Hermione and Perce looked scandalized.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"Ew," Ginny said, putting her hand on her nose. "That's disgusting!"

"I agree," Grover and Percy said.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"What? Why?" Harry asked.

"Because I'm a satyr," Grover said, like this should be the most obvious answer. "I couldn't do gym at all. I would be revealed. Plus, I walk differently than humans."

"Why are you in school anyway?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Satyrs search for half-bloods," Grover said. "I think if we continue reading, it will be explained."

Hermione nodded her head.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

Grover blushed. "I guess that might blow my cover too."

Everyone laughed. George lightened up a bit, but he was still sad. It was so hard for him to laugh without Fred.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"So I take it something embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip," Hermione asked, trying not to smile. Percy nodded, blushing with embarrassment.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"In your hair?" Luna asked, confused.

Conner and Travis almost fell laughing.

"Oh, shut up, you two!" Grover said, but he was laughing as well.

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"You like dodging it?" Conner asked, barely breathing from laughing.

Rachel gave him a hard slap that shut him up.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"Oooh," Nico said. "In a spot of trouble, are we?" he asked in a convincing Italian accent. He smirked at their expressions. "What? I'm half-Italian."

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Actually, some are older," Annabeth explained, putting the book down on her lap. "You see, during those early years, mortals were more aware of magic. They knew of nymphs and so on. The nymphs themselves salvaged many mortal creations because, though they didn't always get along with them, were quite fascinated with..."

Annabeth went on for ten minutes talking about this. The demigods had already heard all of this before, so they didn't bother listening. Hermione, on the other had, listened raptly to what Annabeth was saying. She loved that there was another girl there with a thirst for knowledge. By the time Annabeth was done, everyone else was doing something else.

"I'll continue reading," Annabeth announced sheepishly, pulling everyone back in.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a _stele_, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

Nico laughed, ignoring Percy's glare. The wizards and witches wondered what was going to happen.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"No, that's Nico," Percy teased. The demigods laughed while Nico scowled.

"Hades is not the devil!" Nico protested. "He's the patron over the dead! As you well know, Percy, when you die, you always go to Hades, not heaven! Heaven is Olympus and that's the home of the Gods! They never allow—"

"I was just joking!" Percy said, raising his hands.

"Well, I'll make an offending joke about your father and see how you like it!" Nico snapped, folding his arms angrily.

Percy frowned.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"Do you think she's related to Umbridge?" Harry whispered to Ron and the two of them turned red trying to suppress laughs.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"What is she then?" George managed to ask. Everyone turned to him.

"A dangerous creature," Percy said, surprised that he had spoken. "We'll find out."

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the _stele_, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"That doesn't sound good," Conner commented.

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

"I hate it when teachers call you out like that," Percy grumbled.

"I know," Ron said. "All the attention just turns to you! It's rather embarrassing!"

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the _stele_. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"Who's Kronos?" Luna asked. The Greek shivered.

"The devil?" Percy suggested, glancing at Nico. Nico smirked slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Let's just say, someone you never want to meet," Annabeth said before she continued.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"**

"He's not a god, Percy," The Greeks groaned. Percy stuck out his tongue at them.

"I know that now!"

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters**—**"**

"I think I read that story..." Hermione said softly. "I was really young at the time. I'm not sure if I remember it..."

The Brits were looking rather pale.

"He ate his children?" Ginny asked in barely a whisper.

Thalia nodded.

"That's horrible," Perce declared. "And rather disgusting too. This all really happened?"

Rachel nodded grimly.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

**"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Wow, Percy," Annabeth said, smiling at him. "Way to summarize a ten year battle into a few sentences."

"It's a gift," Percy teased. She laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ew, lovers moment!" The Stolls exclaimed. "Revert your eyes!"

"Shut up!" Percy and Annabeth said, blushing. Harry tensed up. Suddenly he was very aware that Ginny was next to him.

**Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"Might be there for OUR job applications," Travis joked, only to be zapped by Thalia. "OW!"

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"It can help me survive," Percy said before anyone else could say anything.

"Very good, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered, pecking him on the lips and ignoring the Stolls' groans.

"You two are a couple then?" Hermione asked, smiling. She was holding Ron's hand as she said so. He blushed.

"Yeah," Percy said.

"They were practically dating for five years before they found out," Thalia teased.

"Oh, shut it!" Annabeth said, half annoyed, half amused.

Harry smiled at them. Ginny shifted next to him and he could feel her eyes on his skin. He did his best not to look at her. He wasn't going to do this with her now, and especially not in front of her brothers.

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

"She sounds like a Weasley when it comes to blushing, and I'm glad she's not," Ginny said huffily. The other Weasleys agreed with her.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Not exactly," Percy muttered.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"Harry's favorite line," Hermione teased. Harry pretended to glare at her.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a know-it-all like you, Hermione," he said, grinning. "I'll work on it, shall I?"

"Oh, yes please," Hermione laughed.

"She's a know-it-all too?" Nico asked. "Hmm, it's like every group has one. There's Hermione for them, Annabeth for us—"

"Nico, shut up!" Thalia said, suppressing a laugh. Annabeth and Hermione were glaring at him.

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach.**

"That sounds worse than my childhood," Harry said, wanting to vomit. At least that never happened with the Dursleys.

"It's worse than anyone's childhood, Harry," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"You get what I mean, don't you?" He asked, and she nodded.

**The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Happy note?" Harry asked, grinning. "Sounds like Dumbledore. Always putting a happy stamp on things."

Ron laughed with him while the others rolled their eyes. The Greeks looked confused by the joke and Nico wrinkled his nose in frustration. That 'Dumbledore' name was unusual, but it sounded familiar...

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"Guys are doofuses," Thalia said. "They don't need to act." That got a lot of grumbling from the male demigods. Annabeth started reading before the wizards could say anything.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"More than a thousand," The Greeks said softly, but not soft enough. The Brits heard them, but didn't ask any questions.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

"Marvelous answer," Perce said sarcastically. George dabbed his eyes and perked up a bit more.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"Definitely sounds like Dumbledore," Harry said. "These two are so alike."

"Who's Dumbledore?" Rachel asked curiously. Nico looked at them, trying to focus on the story and resolve the strange tingling sensation he had of something familiar going on.

"Our old headmaster," The Brits replied.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder**

"Wait!" Hermione said holding up her hands. "You have dyslexia?"

Percy nodded. "Most demigods do. We're best at reading Greek because we're hardwired for it. It's sort of our native language."

"Does that mean you too, Annabeth?" she asked, turning to the blond girl. Annabeth nodded. "Then how are you reading this?"

"They're special books," Rachel input, turning all the attention away from the embarrassed demigods. "The texts will change to suit the reader's language. When I had the book, it was normal English. But when I gave it to Annabeth, it changed to Greek so she could read it.

Annabeth held up the book and Hermione looked at the pages. For a brief moment, the language was written in Greek, but then the words shimmered and changed to English.

"We're Greek demigods," Annabeth explained. "We read Greek best. Now shall I continue?"

Hermione nodded, still shocked by this new revelation.

"I'm sorry to be a damper here," Ron said, sitting forward. "But what IS dyslexia? I've never heard of it before."

"It's a reading disability, Ron," Hermione explained. "One where all the words get mixed up. Like...let's say you spell the word...mountain. We know it's spelled M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N, but dyslexia hinders the ability to register that. It scrambles the letters to...let's say T-U-N-O-M-I-A-N, or something like that. It's very difficult to read like that."

"Oh," Ron looked horrified by the idea. He felt sorry for the demigods now.

**and I had never made above a C- in my life.**

"C-?" Hermione exclaimed, truly horrified now. "How could you get such a bad grade?"

"Are we ever going to finish this chapter?" Nico asked, pouting.

"Hermione, the dyslexia makes in hard for me to read, remember?" Percy said calmly. "I could never spell anything well. Even if I got the answers right, my spelling would hinder that and lower my grades."

"Oh, right...Sorry."

"No problem."

**No he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"See!" Percy said.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the _stele_, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"Was he? You guys make him sound ancient..." Neville said. The demigods jumped, startled. They'd almost forgotten he was here.

"Maybe."

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"Was that a natural thing?" Ginny asked.

"On this occasion, no," Percy replied.

"Why is that?" Perce asked.

"You'll know soon enough," Percy said grimly.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with lunch tables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean I'm not a genius."**

"We know," the demigods teased. Percy pouted.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone laughed. Even George smiled faintly.

"Sorry," Grover chuckled. "I was hungry."

"I forgive you," Percy said, grinning.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"I love my mother," Percy said proudly. He hadn't seen her for a while and missed her dearly.

"We all do," Thalia said.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"How rude!" The girls exclaimed.

"Slytherin!" Ron said angrily. The Greeks stared.

"Are you casting a spell?" Nico asked, his eyebrows raised.

"What?" Ron asked, confused. Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Hermione managed to hold back their laughter.

"Ron, they don't what you're talking about, you prat!" Ginny said, flicking his ear. Harry nearly let his laughter explode out of him.

"Please continue, Annabeth," Luna said politely. Annabeth nodded.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Liquid what?" All the Brits said.

"Cheetos," Percy said. "It's a snack."

"Oh."

"An unhealthy snack," said Rachel reproachfully.

"Even better!" the Stolls said happily.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper."**

"Hey, you could do with that, Harry," Neville joked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious, Neville."

**But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"What?" Neville asked.

"You didn't do anything," Harry said, confused.

"Actually, he did," Hermione said. "Percy, whose your parents?"

"My mother is Sally Jackson and my step-father is Paul Blofis," Percy said.

"You're godly parent?"

"Don't say," George mumbled. He tried to smile. "It'll be more fun, I guess."

Hermione wanted to argue, but she just couldn't when she saw that depressed look on his face.

"Oh, fine, don't tell me," she grumbled, folding her arms and pouting.

The Greeks frowned.

"What's wrong with him?" Travis asked.

The Weasleys sighed unhappily. "We don't want to talk about it," they said in unison.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"**

**"—the water—"**

**"—like it grabbed her—"**

"Water can't grab people," Ron said. "Not unless you use magic."

"You don't always need magic, Ron," Thalia said. "Not when you're a demigod."

Harry thought about that. Percy had mentioned that he was cousins with Nico, but they weren't really related. He had said their fathers were brothers. If Nico's father was Hades, if he found out who the other brother was, he could figure it out. He wished he knew Greek myths. If only the star would grant that wish immediately.

It didn't.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey "**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Aw, Percy, no!" Travis exclaimed, raising his hands defiantly.

"You never guess your punishments!" Conner said in agreement. "It'll only make them worse!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "I've learned from that mistake, you know."

"You better have," The Stolls said reproachfully, folding their arms. Annabeth smirked and continued reading the chapter.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Well duh!"

"Will you two shut up? I said I learned from it!"

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"You were willing to take the blame?" Neville asked, looking at Grover who smiled sheepishly at him.

"I knew something was wrong about her," Grover said. "I didn't want to leave him alone with her."

"What is she?"

The Greeks' eyes darkened as some glanced at Nico. He shrugged.

"I know, I know, she's an awful hag," he said, pretending to yawn. "At least you guys don't have to spend time with her."

"And you do?" Ron asked skeptically. Nico nodded, smirked at their startled expressions.

"She's a math teacher, isn't she?" he said, trying not to burst with laughter. "I have to learn, you know."

"But—" Neville started, but Percy cut him off.

"Annabeth? Could you please continue?" he asked. She nodded and started before anyone could interrogate Nico.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But—"**

**"You—will—stay—here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"You have a 'deluxe I'll-kill-you-later' stare?" Ginny asked, surprised. Percy nodded.

"It's pretty scary," Percy said, smiling to himself. He had used it a lot while in the war. The monsters had all been terrified of him, only fighting him because they had to. The only persons he knew immune to it was Nico, Rachel, Thalia, Annabeth, Grover, Ares, and a lot of his children, including Clarisse.

"It couldn't be that scary," Ron huffed.

"Oh yeah?" Percy grinned. Then he used that very glare on Ron who wilted into the couch next to the suddenly frightened wizards.

"That's almost as scary as Nico," Harry said, impressed but intimidated. The named boy smiled creepily, his maniacal eyes glinting. Even Voldemort's eyes hadn't been that scary.

"Oh, that?" Thalia asked, laughing. "Nico looks rather happy to me!"

"You call that 'happy'?" Neville asked faintly, shivering as he saw the maniacal expression on Nico's face. "If that's how you look on a normal day, I don't want to see you angry."

The Greeks laughed. "His father's scarier, even when he's happy." They tried and failed not to smile at the terrified and shocked expressions from the other group.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast?**

"Being impatient makes her act rather quickly," Nico said. "She must have been anxious."

"Who is she?" Luna asked.

No answer.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"Nope, it's the Mist covering your vision," Annabeth said simply.

"The what?" Hermione asked.

"The Mist," Annabeth repeated before continuing.

**I wasn't so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

The Greeks groaned.

"Of all times for him not to notice," Annabeth grumbled, shaking her head.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Percy, that's ridiculous," Nico said incredulously.

"I know that now."

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

"Don't you say it, Nico!" Percy warned threateningly. Nico closed his mouth and grinned.

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"If only you had known the truth," Rachel sighed. "Then you would have known better than to go anywhere with her."

Harry groaned. "Can someone please tell us who she is?"

"Later."

Harry grumbled silently to himself.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

"She might have..." Nico mumbled. The Brits exchanged thoughtful glances.

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"Get away with what?" Ron asked. "How long is it going to take before we find out what's going on?"

Hermione pursed her lips. The title of the book was "The Lightning Thief." Maybe it had something to do with that. Harry was thinking along the same lines as this, as was Luna, Perce and Ginny.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

Percy said, "Yeah, yeah, I was an ignorant idiot, I know."

Annabeth smiled fondly at him. "I know you're learned a lot since then, but you still are, Percy."

"Hey!"

"We had a teacher who was really twisted," Harry said, thinking about Umbridge.

"Was she evil?" Conner asked.

"Yup," Neville said. "A real bitch too," he added under his breath so they wouldn't hear him.

**I said, "I'll I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

"Sweet!" Conner said, grinning. "You've made us proud, Percy!"

Percy stuck out his tongue at him.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"It's not a bad book," Hermione said.

"I agree, it is rather interesting," Rachel nodded.

"Well, it wasn't to me," Percy protested, Grover nodding in agreement.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"Okay, that's a terrifying description," Ron said weakly. "What is she?"

"You'll find out soon!" Thalia said. "Now hush!"

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"How's a pen going to help?" Hermione shouted, raising her hands.

"Wait," Harry said, sitting forward. Something sounded familiar here. "Is that the same pen you have now, Percy?"

Percy nodded and Harry sat back, smiling.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"Wait and see."

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

"Your pen can turn into a sword?" The Brits asked, shocked. Percy nodded and pulled it out of his pocket. He uncapped it and it transformed into the glowing bronze sword, Anaklusmos. They all stared at it in awe as Percy recapped the pen.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

"What's with the 'honey'?" Ginny asked, shaking her head.

"That's just mental," Ron agreed.

"That's Alecto," Nico smirked.

"Alecto Carrow?" The wizards asked. The Greeks looked puzzled.

"Who's that?"

"A witch," Hermione said. "One on the wrong side. I guess there's an Alecto in your story too, though I'm not familiar with who she is."

"And I take it your not telling," Neville asked shrewdly.

The Greeks shook their heads.

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. _Hissss!_ Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

"What's a power fan?" The pureblood wizards asked.

"I'll explain later," Hermione promised. "Let's finish this first."

**She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"That's unnerving," Ron muttered softly.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

"The Mist was still affecting you?" Thalia asked in surprise. "No wonder it took you so long to understand everything."

"It's probably because you were in shock," Annabeth mused. "Part of you was stunned by what happened and another might have wanted it all to be an illusion. The Mist would take the opportunity to deceive you because of that."

"You may be right about that," Percy said, smiling at her.

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Um, magic mushrooms don't do that, and their addressed by different names than that," Neville said, shaking his head. "Though there are a few species that can be used to cure temporary mental disorders in potions. I'm thinking this isn't one them though..."

"They exist?" Percy asked, stunned. Neville nodded and Percy stared, dumbstruck.

"You should see the look on your face!" The Stolls said, cracking up. Even George had to smile weakly at him.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Ron and Hermione asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

"That was weird," Ron blinked.

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"I've gotten better at lying," Grover said, blushing.

"Not by much," Thalia laughed.

"I wish you hadn't tried to do that," Percy said, shaking his head. "I really needed an explanation."

"Sorry, man."

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"At least Chiron can lie," Annabeth giggled. Grover groaned at her.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"See?"

"Annabeth, enough."

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"Way to kick him when he's down," Travis snickered.

"Like you could have done any better?" Rachel said shrewdly.

"We totally can."

Annabeth turned the page. "That was the end of the chapter. Who's next?"

"Me!" Percy volunteered, taking the book from her. He sighed at the title.

"It's another strange one, isn't it?" Nico asked, grinning.

"You know it," Percy sighed.

* * *

**And that is the first book chapter of this story. Tell me what you think. Criticism is appreciated.**

**:) :) :)**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	6. Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks of Death

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories...**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**

* * *

Percy cleared his throat loudly. "**Chapter Two: Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**." He bit back a laugh. These titles were really funny.

There was a pause for everyone else.

"Did I hear that right?" Neville asked slowly. Harry and Ron looked like they were thinking the same thing.

"Is this where you..." Grover glanced at Percy who nodded. The day with the _Moirai_...

"Yeah, when the bus...you know," Percy replied.

"And we saw..."

Percy nodded. "Yep." Thinking about gave him chills.

"What are you two talking about?" The Brits, and surprisingly, the Greeks asked Grover and Percy.

"Wait, you guys don't know what's going on?" Ginny asked.

"No, we don't," Thalia said, pursing her lips. "Percy? Grover? Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

Percy and Grover shared a brief glance before Percy started to read again, aggravating their friends. This time, the Brits were slightly pleased that they weren't the only ones who didn't have a clue what was going on.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr, a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip, had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"Are muggles really that thick?" Ron asked, shaking his head. It would take the Obliviators a long time to modify memories like that. But as far as the wizards and witches could tell, there were no such magical involvement for the demigods. It made them wonder why the mortals would blindly accept this woman, Mrs. Kerr, when Mrs. Dodds had clearly been their actual teacher.

"What are muggles?" Conner asked, confused. "Are you talking about the mortals?"

"Yes, he is. 'Muggle' is the term for 'Non-magical folk'," Perce replied. "At least for the Wizarding World." George nodded and sadly rested his head on Perce's shoulder.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. It got so I almost believed them Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

"How could you believe that?" Thalia asked, staring at Percy as though he were crazy. "It was obvious that she existed."

"Well, it was all pretty convincing from the way everyone was behaving," Percy retorted. "Besides, I wasn't totally fooled by them."

"Pray tell."

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"Oh, that's what you mean," Thalia snorted, slapping Grover lightly on the arm. "Of course it would be little Grover who wouldn't fool you.

"Hehe, sorry," Grover said weakly. Then he glared at Thalia. "And I'm not little."

"You're shorter than me," she smirked. He scowled at her.

"I'm older than you," he retorted.

"Not by much," she smiled.

Grover sighed exasperatedly. "There's no winning with her."

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.**

"No Styx, Sherlock," Nico laughed softly.

Percy groaned. He was never going to live this down...

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"I know what that's like," Harry said. All eyes turned to him. "Not the Mrs. Dodds part, but waking up in all frightened and everything."

"We know," Hermione and Ron said sympathetically. It had seriously bothered them to see Harry in those states — breathing hard, eyes dilated, terrified screaming, the occasional vomit-incident — they had never seen him so vulnerable, but somehow he came back stronger than before, or more reserved and distant.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Seriously, what's all this?" Neville asked, pursing his lips. "Is it the gods? Are they causing all this?"

Annabeth nodded grimly. "Two gods in particular."

Percy and Thalia sighed internally. Their fathers truly didn't get along well at all. As a matter of fact, most of the gods didn't get along.

"Which ones?" Luna asked.

"We'll find out," Annabeth assured her.

"I wish they would stop saying that," Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione.

"Don't worry," Harry muttered back. "When it's time to read my story, we can get revenge."

Ron grinned in anticipation and Hermione suppressed an amused smile. She knew Harry didn't mean that, but she agreed that the words 'we'll find out' were getting annoying.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Hermione puffed irritably. His grades were worse that most people she knew — except for Crabbe and Goyle. They definitely got terrible grades. Failed most of their subjects and got three Ts apiece.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

"A drunk person," Hermione and Annabeth giggled. However, Hermione was more shocked that Percy would tell a teacher such a thing. He definitely had a Gryffindor spirit in him.

"Oh," Percy said. Then he grinned slyly. "Mr. D, then?"

The Greek fell into silent laughter.

"Don't let him hear you say that!" Travis chocked, his face red. Conner nodded, his eyes brimming with tears.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"Another expulsion," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Don't you care about you're grades at all? Or your attitude?"

"My education is a smaller matter compared with my life," Percy said, smiling to hide his annoyance. "My attitude...let's say that was inherited. No offense to my father, but that's just how my family is."

"Too true," his friends agreed.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties. And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"It's nice to know you care," Grover said, blushing. Looking back on his old self, he really didn't have as much courage as he did now.

"You're my best friend," Percy smiled, thumping him on the back. "Of course I care."

Hermione smiled at this, despite being irritated by Percy's expulsion. These two reminded her of Ron and Harry.

**I'd miss Latin class, too Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

"As if he's given that up," Rachel whispered. Percy blushed as his friends smiled proudly at him. He did more than well, not just for them and for himself, but for the gods and the rest of the world — even if the world didn't know.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"Good," Annabeth said. "Believing makes living harder, but it also makes it easier to understand and survive."

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"Harsh," Nico said. "I know how that feels, but my dyslexia isn't as bad as yours. At least you don't get serious headaches from reading English." Then he gave it a thought. "Or Italian."

"English is bad enough!" Travis gasped, appalled. "How do you read Italian?"

"It's not that bad," Nico said. "Italian follows a different letter pattern that Greek. It's sort of like reading Latin. The letters mix up. However, I learned Italian verbally before visually. My mother taught me the basic pronunciations so if I have to spell the word, I can visualize the pronunciation in my head and see the correct spelling. However, when reading, it is a lot more difficult because I'm not visualizing the words, I'm reading it off a paper while my dyslexia kicks in. I can apply the same tactics to the English language and—"

"Nico, we don't need a full explanation," Conner interrupted. "It's hard to know two languages that aren't Greek."

Nico blushed. "Four, actually."

"What?" Thalia asked, looking confused. "What languages do you know?"

Nico inhaled. "Greek, Latin, English, Italian, and Japanese," he said.

"Why Japanese?" Harry asked.

"Japan is the third most likely place for me to accidentally end up," Nico blushed. "Sometimes it's Italy, other times it's England. A few times to China. Once to the Canary Islands. Twice to Barbados. About four times to Paris — I really need to learn French — and most of the time it's Japan. So I learned that language because I got tired of trying to guess everything they were saying."

"And how do you end up in those locations?" Hermione asked, dumbfounded.

"A different story that I don't want to get into," Nico sighed. "Can we continue the story?"

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt. I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. _I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson_. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

Hermione irritation softened at this. At least he cared a little bit.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

**"... worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"I hate that you heard us like that," Grover grumbled. "There was a reason it was a private conversation. So no one would hear. And you heard."

"Sorry," Percy muttered. "You should have closed the door properly."

"Oh yeah, blame it on me," Grover muttered.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"**

"What's a Kindly One?" Ron asked. Then he realized they could only be talking about one person. "Mrs. Dodds?"

Percy nodded. He hated the furies. They always wanted to pulverize him.

"That makes no sense!" Ron exclaimed, raising his arms. "What's so kind about her? That name is inaccurate!"

"It's not the real name," Nico explained. "Saying the name is actually feared. Names have power. If you say it, there's a good chance that she'll show up. So we give them a nickname to make it easier to speak of them. But it doesn't make the tension any better."

"You should never fear to speak a name," Harry said. "I learned that years ago."

Nico shook his head. "I know. But it's dangerous to do so. A _deadly_ taboo. Trust me, you don't want a Kindly One to hunt you down for disrespect. Even the _gods_ don't want their names thrown about randomly. You can get killed for that."

Harry considered this. "Point taken."

"Wait a minute," Hermione interrupted. "What do you mean '_They know too?_'"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Before Ron started talking, Percy read from the book and the last thing he said was _'Now that we know for sure, and they know too_'. Who's 'they'?" Hermione frowned.

"You know," Percy said, closing his eyes. "I'm getting really tired of saying we'll find out soon. If you wait, you'll know!"

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line—"**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"There wasn't much to enjoy," Percy muttered to himself. "Not with the bad grades, all the fighting and my stepfather... not with the fact that I knew something had changed."

**"Sir, he saw her..."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

"That must've been a shocker," Nico said. "To hear that you might die."

"You're telling me," Percy replied, shaking his head.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"I can't believe he blew his cover," Conner muttered to Travis who nodded in agreement. "When you eavesdrop, you don't give away your position."

"We have so much to teach him," Travis replied.

"Oh please," Nico laughed. "You two still have problems staying quiet yourselves. Ask Bette to do it instead. She's better at it."

The Stolls considered what he said, though they were a little miffed at him saying they had stealth problems. Maybe their sister would do a better job. She was the best eavesdropper in the Hermes cabin, after all.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Who is your teacher?" Hermione said. "Obviously he has something to do with your world."

"He's our activities director," Annabeth said. "He's been around for centuries."

"Activities—" Ron began, but then Percy started reading again. Ron pouted and shared an irritated look with his girlfriend.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow _clop-clop-clop_, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

"He's part animal too?" Neville asked.

"Hmm, he sounds like a centaur," Luna mused dreamily. The Greeks stared at her in amazement. How did she figure it out so fast?

"What gives you that impression?" Harry asked, looking at her.

Then he just realized that Luna wasn't sitting on the couches with him and the others. Instead, she had chosen to pad the floor with three cushions to sit on instead. She looked up at all of them, each of them, demigods and wizards alike, seemingly coming to realize that she was on the floor.

"Yeah, he's not like any centaur we know," Ron agreed. The Greeks stared at him. The wizards knew centaurs too?

"Well, it mentions clop-clop noises. I remembered that because you, Ron, made sounds like that to frighten Umbridge in the hospital wing," The Brits laughed at the memory. It had been amusing to see Umbridge's reaction. "And he has an archer's bow. It seemed to make sense."

"Yeah, but Brunner doesn't go on about stars and stuff like that," Ron disagreed. "He seems normal for a magical being." He looked at Nico. "He is a magical being, right?" Nico nodded in confirmation.

"We'll see," Luna said, her dreamy voice confident.

"I bet you three knuts," Ron said confidently.

"Hmm...it wouldn't hurt," Luna agreed, not liking the idea of gambling. She was still sure she was correct.

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

"I hate taking those exams," Grover mumbled to himself. "I always have to take them over and over and over..."

Ron, Conner, and Travis winced at the number of 'over's Grover said. That would be hell on earth for them. Well, it was rivaled best by war, but still!

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

"Wait a second," Neville interrupted. "Grover, if you take exams so much, why do you revise? Wouldn't you know it all?"

"Refreshing my memory and keeping up appearances," Grover replied. He pulled off his Rasta cap and twisted it in his hands. "It's downright annoying, but necessary."

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

"I still knew something was wrong," Grover pointed out. "I wouldn't have guessed that you'd heard us."

"You couldn't sense it was me outside?" Percy asked. He had always wondered why Grover hadn't known it was him. He would have thought that his emotions or scent might have given himself away.

"No," Grover said. "I could sense someone outside, but I didn't know it was you. You're scent was all over the school, so you were masked. And your emotions had changed when you returned to the dorm. More confused and suspicious, so I couldn't tell. What I felt before was shock and panic."

"Oh," Percy nodded. "That would explain it."

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing. But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

"Yuck," Conner said, gagging. Who would want that from such a girl?

"I hate her more than Clarisse," Travis agreed. "At least Clarisse has the sense not to do such a thing."

"Unless it's Chris," Conner whispered, grinning. The brothers fell into silent laughter.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

"Way to boost his self-esteem," Nico sneered, shaking his head. Chiron really needed to learn how to be more tactful.

"I'd hate it if someone said that to me," Neville said, frowning. In his younger days at Hogwarts, most people who weren't his friends had shown little regard for his feelings and were often tactless when talking to him. It had gotten hurt a lot, which lowered his self-esteem, and it was lack of esteem that they treated him like that anyway.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"He's making it worse!" Annabeth groaned, covering her eyes with her left hand and taking Percy's left hand with her other. Percy squeezed her hand gently to let her know it was okay.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

"Well, you can't blame him," Hermione frowned, feeling sorry for Percy.

"I understand what he meant now," Percy said, smiling grimly.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Um, you're not serious, are you?" Conner and Travis asked incredulously. "Nobodies?"

"I didn't know my family yet!" Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"And now you know that we're all royalty!" Conner grinned.

"Shut up," Percy said. "We are not." Rachel smacked Conner on the head for Percy since he was at the other end of the couch.

"_Whatever you say, Sea Prince_," Travis added in Greek. He dodged a slap from Rachel for that.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"I wish that people would give me that much space," Harry groaned softly, closing his eyes. "My friends are okay, but everyone else...I can't take a step out my front door without reporters from the _Prophet_.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city. During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You nearly gave me a heart-attack," Grover said, shaking his head. "And after you explained what happened, I realized you were the person who interrupted our conversation."

"Hey, you guys implied that I could die," Percy grumbled. "What reaction did you expect from me?"

Grover paused. "Point taken."

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..."**

"Give it up, Grover, he's not going to believe that anymore, not after hearing about Kindly Ones," Thalia said, tutting in disappointment.

"Which is still an inaccurate name," Ron grumbled. Everyone snorted. Of all things for him to stick on, it had to be that...

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"Well, duh!" The Greeks exclaimed, laughing at Grover's red face.

"Leave me alone," he said, but he couldn't help but smile.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 009-0009**_

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"Well, not rich," Grover said, putting the Rasta cap back on his head.

"Yeah, but _our_ family _is_ rich," Conner added.

"You just have to live with their demigod kids," Travis grinned.

"Don't you think I know that?" Grover asked rhetorically. Percy began reading before the Stolls could attempt at an answer.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"It's okay," Grover said before Percy could add his input. Percy smiled apologetically.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

"It's okay," Percy said in the same tone Grover used before, just as Grover attempted to apologize to him. Grover pretended to glare, but ended up laughing with Percy.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

"That doesn't sound good," Neville said, grimacing. It was just Percy's luck that something had to go wrong on a simple trip. He didn't know that much about the guy, but he could understand that. His luck was just like Harry's.

"Nothing extremely terrifying happened," Percy reassured him, thinking along the same lines.

"But something happened?" Perce asked, glancing at George who seemed to have tensed up. Perce didn't think his brother should be listening to anything frightening. Not in his condition.

Grover and Percy didn't respond, forcing the others to conclude that something disturbing did indeed happen.

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. We were on a stretch of country road — no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice.**

"That sounds delicious," Ron and the Stolls sighed.

"Men," Thalia said, disgusted.

"Ruled by their stomachs," Hermione added.

"Like you're any different, Thalia. You can eat almost as much as Percy," Annabeth teased, causing her friends to laugh at the red-faced daughter of Zeus.

**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"How big?" George asked, looking politely puzzled. He hated the feeling that he was being left out of this. He just didn't like the thought of anything dangerous right now. Maybe if Fred were here... George tensed again. No, thinking about that wouldn't help.

"Huge," Percy said, shaking his head. No one other than Perce saw George's behavior.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"I admit that would be weird, but I don't see anything remotely dangerous," Neville said, confused.

"Trust me, they're dangerous," Grover said, paling.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny at all Percy," Grover said. "Those are three ladies you don't want to be near."

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

"Holy Styx!" Nico exclaimed, paler than usual. "Please tell me it's not THEM!"

"Who?" Conner and Travis asked, but then Thalia caught on.

"Oh my gods!" She nearly screamed, turning to Percy. "How are you alive?"

Annabeth turned white, realizing who they were too. She clutched onto Percy's hand like her life depended on it. He winced as it started to turn red. If it hadn't been for his Achilles curse, Annabeth might have ripped his hand off. He raised an eyebrow at her and she relaxed her hold on him, resting her head on his shoulder for reassurance.

Even Rachel had caught on, turning as white as Nico in the process, but the Stolls still looked confused.

"Who are they?" The demanded.

"_Moirai_," Nico said in barely a whisper.

Then they understood. "Styx!" they shouted, their eyes wide with fear.

"Who are they?" The Brits asked. Hermione added. "Moirai...that sounds slightly familiar to me. I must have read it somewhere..."

"Let me finish," Percy said, turning back to the book.

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for — Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"I don't see what's so terrifying," Ron said, frowning.

"It's who they are that makes them terrifying," Rachel shuddered. "You don't have any clue who the Fates are."

"Who?" Neville asked.

"I think Trelawney talked about them in class," Ginny said, remembering how the strange woman would bring up such terms when teaching. "Something about seers?"

"I don't believe in what Trelawney says," Hermione scoffed.

"They are real," Rachel insisted. "And they are more than ordinary seers."

"They're called the _Moirai_," Annabeth said grimly. "The Fates. They know the lives of us all. They predict how we live. They say when we die. They see it all, the future, the present, the past. They are to be feared and respected more than anyone else."

The Brits gaped at them. Then Annabeth added, "When they cut the thread, it means someone dies. A sort of **—** severing the life away from the living, if you will. I don't understand how you survived Percy...unless," her eyes widened. "Unless it wasn't your lifeline!"

"No," Percy said sadly. "It was..._his_..."

"Oh." All the Greeks looked so sad that the Brits didn't have the heart to ask them what was wrong. George, however, recognized the expression. Someone had died.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu. Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

'_Worse_,' a few of the Greeks thought, nervous. To see the Fates was the see death. Even a few of the gods were afraid of them.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost — older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"Last time?" Luna asked softly. She didn't really have to ask. She understood that if Grover was terrified by it, it must have been bad.

"Something horrible happened last time," Grover said, glancing quickly at Thalia, grateful that she was here today.

**"What happened last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover — that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

"I was a little surprised when you said that," Grover sighed. "You wouldn't have struck me as the person to know about that."

"How much I am underestimated..." Percy sighed to himself.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"No, I just couldn't bare the thought of losing a friend like you," Grover said. "I mean, my job mattered, but I didn't want that for you."

"Thanks, G-man," Percy said. "I'm done." He glanced at the title for the next chapter and held back a smirk. "You're turn?"

"Yeah," Grover said wearily, taking the book from Percy.

Percy turned to smirk at Annabeth who started to wonder what the title to the next chapter was...

* * *

**And that is the second book chapter in the sixth chapter. Wow, that sounded weird to me. ****Thanks go to: baritonegirl, Splatter, Taka, tarkatan, c0dy88, Fourteen things, and _Sakra_ for reviewing on the last one. :)**

**To Sakra: The occasion grammar error was bound to happen to me; it always does. I do my best to avoid them as much as possible, but thanks for pointing it out. I might never have noticed it. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I do my best :)  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	7. Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants

**These two stories are the properties of J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I only used them for this particular story that will involve reading their own stories... (Okay, I'm tired of putting this up here. From now on, it will be 'Disclaimer: I own nothing.')**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants**

* * *

"**Chapter Three: Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants**," Grover read. Then he turned beet red and smacked Percy's arm with the book. Percy laughed hard, dodging another smack. The rest of the room was laughing hysterically. Even George was smiling, not entirely happy, but happier than before.

"He does what?" Annabeth giggled, clutching her stomach from the laughter.

"Read and we'll find out," Harry grinned, his cheeks rosy. He was blushing because Ginny had grabbed his arm for support while she was breathless from laughing.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"I still can't believe you did that," Grover said, miffed. He was still fuming over the chapter title.

"Sorry, but you were freaking me out!" Percy said, still chuckling.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

"He's talking about Thalia," Rachel said sadly. Her voice was so soft, only the Greeks heard her.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

Grover turned to glare at Percy who raised his hands defensively.

"I'm sorry?"

"Hmph!"

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her. Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"That's sounds horrible," Everyone said sadly.

"She sounds like a selfless person," Hermione said. "She gave up all that for someone who didn't even care too much about her."

"She should've just chucked him out," Ron said angrily, but he knew that wouldn't happen.

"My mother would never have done that," Percy said. At least her life was better now. She loved Paul, a better stepfather than Gabe had been by far, and she was almost done writing her first book. She hoped to get it published within the year. She hadn't told him what it was about, but Paul assured him that it was good.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

"Aw," Rachel and Hermione said together. "That's so sweet."

"And we're reading about the _result_ of that meeting," Travis said, grinning like Cheshire.

Everyone's faces were instantly tinged with green.

Percy glared, his eye twitching. "Shut up!" He _so_ didn't need that image in this head. He was going to kill Travis for that one.

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures. See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Well, we all know he's a god, right?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Percy nodded.

"I guess she was right about the not dead part then," Harry concluded, ruffling his hair. He didn't notice Ginny smiling at him.

"Yeah," Percy chuckled. Annabeth ran her hand through Percy's hair, causing it to look messier than Harry's, and his smug look turned into a pout. She giggled at him and urged Grover to read.

'_Lost at sea_,' Hermione thought curiously. '_Interesting choice of departure..._'

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"He must smell worse than Dung," Ron said, thinking of how horrible Mundungus Fletcher smelled.

"Of course dung would smell bad," Conner said, not understanding what Ron was talking about.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN.**

"What's ESPN?" George and Neville asked.

"A sports channel on TV," Percy said.

"TV?" Neville asked, finding the two letter odd on his tongue. "Is that short for television?"

"Yeah," Travis said slowly. "How do you not know that?"

The pureblood wizards blushed. "We don't know too much about the muggle world." They saw the demigods stare. "Mortal world."

"Oh."

"Yes, they would be more in tune to magic," Hermione explained. "Muggle — mortal — whichever — devices, like technology and customs, wizards and witches aren't clearly familiar with them. A microwave, a telephone, a refrigerator — anything like that is relatively alien."

"Wow," Percy, Conner, and Travis said in surprise.

"I can't imagine a world without technology," Conner muttered, feeling unnerved.

"Me too," Travis added. "Even if we can't use it."

**Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"Mum would have a heart-attack," Ginny muttered, her eyes wide. "Even Ron's room isn't as bad as that."

Ron glared at her.

"I'm having one right now," Hermione said, looking disgusted.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

"Well, doesn't that sound homey," Nico said sarcastically. "In the Underworld, at least I get respect."

"When I still lived with the Dursleys, they never greeted me," Harry said, disgruntled. "They just picked me up from the train station, not uttering a single word, and then enter their house without looking at me. They always pretended I wasn't there."

"I think I would've liked that when living with Smelly Gabe," Percy grumbled.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

"Sorry, Gabe," Percy said, "but nothing on this earth, _or this universe_, could make you handsome. Not even a blessing from Aphrodite."

"Oh, please," Thalia scoffed, waving her hand in the air. A few sparks flew of the tips of her fingers. "Aphrodite wouldn't taste her time trying."

"Oh, too true," Percy agreed, grinning.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"Child abuse?" Hermione asked, looking so furious that Ron moved slightly away from her. He had been on that side of her before, and it was never pleasant.

"He didn't hit me," Percy said. "At least, not often. If Mom saw something wrong with me, he knew he would get out of her good books."

"What a jerk," Rachel said bitterly. "Paul's a lot better."

"Who's Paul?" Ginny asked.

"My new step-father," Percy replied. "And trust me, he's great." '_Especially at sword-fighting_,' Percy thought with amusement.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow. Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

George gagged and made a face at that. Everyone snickered, which seemed to please him. His friends looked at him hopefully. Maybe reading Percy's life was cheering him up.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"Muggle money sounds complicated," Ron said, still trying to work out what was just said.

"No, it's not," the ones who understood protested.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

**"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Now everyone gagged.

"How did you survive?" Harry said, wanting to vomit. The Dursleys would have died than behave like that at all, even Dudley.

"It's a miracle," Percy agreed.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

"The Dursleys didn't do that to you, did they?" Hermione asked, disgusted.

Harry shook his head. "No way. They never even entered it. When I got home every summer, it was always dusty."

"I'd prefer dusty over disgusting," Percy said, grimacing.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic — how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone — something — was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

"He's just as pessimistic as Harry," Ron muttered to Hermione, who, in turn, grinned.

"I can hear you," Harry grumbled. Ginny laughed at his two sheepish friends.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

Everyone turned to smile at Percy.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

Harry smiled at this. Percy's mother sounded wonderful. He wondered if his own mother, Lily Potter, would have been like that if she had lived.

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"Wow," the Weasleys said, impressed. They knew their mother wasn't like that, but she was definitely a wonderful person.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"That's it," The Stolls sighed. "We officially envy you!"

Percy grinned happily. Annabeth smiled and nudged him in the ribs. He laughed and nudged her back.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

"Momma's boy!" Conner laughed. "Seriously, did she ever get mad at you?"

"Yes," Percy said, smiling. "She just isn't the person who can stay mad very long. She's a loving person."

"Our mother is, too," George sighed, resting his head on Perce's shoulder again. "But that doesn't stop her from yelling at us."

"She doesn't really yell now," Perce said. He decided not to add '_Since Fred died_'. He was sure that none of them were ready to talk about that yet, especially George.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Who wouldn't?" Percy asked rhetorically.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally. How about some bean dip, huh?"**

Everyone growled at the mention of Gabe. Grover clutched on tighter to the book. The negative emotions in the room affected him so much, it made him want to chuck the poor book across the room.

**I gritted my teeth. My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe. For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time.**

"You usually don't last a year?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, sometimes it's a few months," Percy said. "Half the year once, but nearly the entire year most of the times."

**I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

"Wow, you must've liked Yancy," Harry said. "Hogwarts is better though."

"And more dangerous," Ron whispered. "Remember everything that happened?"

"Well, we sort of brought that on ourselves," Harry muttered sheepishly. Then he saw their incredulous looked. "Okay, it was mostly me," he admitted, "but you guys never left me behind, so that's why I said 'ourselves'."

"He makes himself a point," Hermione admitted. "We'd never abandon him."

Ron nodded, though he remembered walking out on Harry twice. He seriously hated and regretted those occasions.

**Until that trip to the museum...**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

"Percy!" All the Greeks exclaimed.

"I know! I know! It was a stupid move there on my part."

"You think!"

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid. She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

**"Three nights - same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

"Go away!" Ginny, and surprisingly, Luna snapped. Luna's dreamy expression was marred with disgust.

"Your mother doesn't deserve something like that," Luna said angrily.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"Why is it I'm reminded on Uncle Vernon?" Harry wondered. "He would never live like Gabe does, with the mess and the improperness, but his attitude is the same."

"Birds of a feather," Percy grumbled.

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"Bribery," Conner and Travis mused. "Very clever. Dad would be proud."

"Of course he would," Nico laughed.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"He's joking, right?" Ron asked, shocked.

Percy shook his head.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

Everyone burst into laughter.

"You should have done that!" Travis and Conner nearly screamed. Harry stuffed his hand in his mouth, trying not to smile.

Hermione, Luna, Thalia, Rachel, Annabeth, Neville, Grover, and Perce trying to stifle their laughter without success. Percy received a high five from Ron. And George. George was grinning almost happily. He was still sad, but that comment was frown-breaker.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"He must be really thick," Ron said, shaking his head with a wide grin on his face. "Every word in that statement had sarcasm."

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

"Moron," Conner snickered.

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"She knows somethings wrong?" Ginny asked.

"Yep," Percy nodded. "She a smart lady. She can tell when something's not right."

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes — the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride — as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

"If it were me, I'd give him food poisoning," Thalia grumbled.

"Right now, he has worse than that," Nico said softly, recalling Percy telling him about Gabe's fate. He'd gone to Punishment and had seen exactly what Gabe was now.

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking — and more important, his '78 Camaro for the whole weekend.**

"He cares more about a car than his wife," Hermione hissed.

"That's a difference from Uncle Vernon," Harry said, noting that Vernon, despite how he treated Harry, really did love his wife, son, and sister. "He cares more for Aunt Petunia and Dudley than his work or possessions."

"At least there's something positive with him, then," Percy muttered.

"He has a cousin named Dudley?" Travis whispered to Conner, and the two sat quietly in their seats, turning red from suppressed laughter.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.**

At this, the Brits burst into laughter, startling the Greeks. Harry and Ron, blushing furiously, told them all to shut up. They were not in the mood to talk about driving a flying car into a tree!

"What's so funny?" Percy asked, confused.

"Ron and Harry drove a car," Ginny said, trying to breathe. "When they were twelve!"

"Shut up, Ginny!" Ron said, his ears redder than his hair. But now the Greeks were laughing too.

"Awesome!" The Stolls exclaimed. "Details later!"

'_I guess they will if they read my second year_,' Harry groaned internally.

**But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"And there's a similarity to Uncle Vernon," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Blaming me for what goes wrong in his life."

Hermione and Ginny frowned at him.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"What just happened?" Harry asked, wrinkling his forehead.

"It's a gesture to ward off evil," Grover explained, showing Harry the sign.

"Considering the person Gabe was, I'm not surprised it worked on him," Nico decided. "It wards off evil people as well as monsters."

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

"Oh sure, flee the scene," Nico said, smirking.

"Would you have hung around?" Percy asked skeptically.

"Um, no. I'm not stupid..._oh_."

A few people snorted.

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Annabeth and Ron shivered at this. "I hate spiders," they said in unison. Then they stared at each other in surprise.

"_Wow_," Thalia and Ginny giggled. Percy and Hermione smirked. Harry patted Ron on the shoulder, trying not to grin.

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

**I loved the place.**

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

"That's so sweet," Rachel sighed. "She must have loved your dad a lot."

"Yeah," Percy said, smiling. "I have a feeling he still loves her too."

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"Yeah, we were starting to wonder," Harry said. Percy smirked.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This — along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano — was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"No wonder Percy's a handful," Nico snickered. "He gets his rebellious personality from his parents; 85% from his father, and 15% from his mother."

"Wouldn't that mean he has 100%?" Thalia giggled and Nico chuckled.

Percy glared. "Like you two are any better."

Everyone smiled in amusement as the Big Three children started squabbling over this.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop. Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk — my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"Sounds like Harry's description," Ginny blurted out, not thinking. "Except for his eyes. Their his mother's eyes."

"Oh really?" Ron asked, eying the two of them. Heat crept up around Harry's throat. He was not in the mood to have any confrontations with Ron.

"I'm thirsty!" he declared, standing up. He could feel the glare coming off of Ron and was determined to get away from it. "Is anyone else thirsty?"

He didn't even wait for an answer. He got up and hurried out of the room. The Greeks stared after him, confused.

"What was that about?" Nico asked, looking perplexed but sounding thoughtful.

"Nothing," Ginny said, looking slightly crestfallen. She hated how Harry had been avoiding her lately. She thought that after the war they could have continued their relationship, but he would barely even talk to her anymore. She had a feeling it was Ron's fault. She glanced at him and saw that he was looking rather uncomfortable under Hermione's glare.

"_I think there's something going on between Harry and Ginny_," Thalia whispered in Greek to her friends.

After twenty minutes, Harry had not returned yet.

"Do you think he got lost?" Luna asked, looking towards the double doors that Harry had exited through. It was right opposite the fireplace, leading to a corridor that disappeared from left to right.

"Maybe," Rachel said, getting up. "Let me check."

Rachel ran out the room in the same direction Harry had taken.

"Aren't you guys worried that _she_ may get lost?" Neville asked, looking at the place where she vanished.

"Rachel has good instincts," Annabeth said, remembering when Rachel had led her and Percy through the labyrinth. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

They were silent for another moment. Then Thalia asked the question they all wanted to know.

"Why did he run off?" she asked, looking at the Brits, one by one.

"Personal matters," Hermione said, glaring at Ron.

"What?" he asked.

"It's your fault," she said.

"How's it _my_ fault?"

"After that argument—"

"He brought that on himself!"

"No, Ron, you did! You never gave him a chance to explain—"

"I know you're mad—"

"I'm more than mad—"

"It's not my problem—"

"Yes, it is—"

"Guys?" Nico inputted, but they ignored him.

"I just don't want him to—"

"To what? Ron, grow up—"

"I am grown up!"

"Then stop acting like a child!"

"_Guys?_" Nico repeated, sitting forward. They still ignored him.

"I'm not going over this with you, Hermione, you know why I did that!"

"Yes, and you're hurting him for it!"

"GUYS!" Nico yelled, pulling them back to the present. "Harry's back!"

Everyone looked around to see Harry and Rachel standing in the doorway, watching the couple bicker away. Harry was drinking from a tall glass of water while Rachel had her hand on his shoulder, whispering something to him. He nodded and she went back to her seat.

"Oh, there you are, Harry," Neville said cheerfully. "Where have you been?"

"I found the kitchen, but I got lost coming back," Harry said sheepishly. "I ended up in the backyard."

"Yeah, then I found him trying to get into the library," Rachel laughed.

Harry blushed. "Hey, I didn't know it was a library! It looked a lot like the doors in this room!"

"Well, it was locked!" Rachel grinned. "Even your '_Alohomora_' didn't work on it. And you should have known that when no one answered you." Harry grinned sheepishly.

"How you opened it, I still don't know."

Rachel laughed as Harry blushed behind his cup. He was about to return to his seat when he realized it was next to Ginny.

"Um, I think I'll stretch my legs for a while," he said hesitantly. Going back to sit next to her would not improve things right now. There was a reason he got up in the first place, and it wasn't just for water. "You all continue." '_Some Gryffindor I am...it's bad enough I was like this nervous in sixth year, but now?_'

Ginny tried not to pout. Ron saw this and fumed quietly. He couldn't say anything, not when Hermione was being mad at him.

'_That's not like Harry_,' Hermione thought to herself, refusing to look at Ron. '_I'm going to have to talk to him again_.'

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

"Ouch," The Brits said together. The Greeks on the other hand sighed. The knew what that was like.

"You know what I still don't get?" Percy said, looking at Annabeth. "Mom was with Dad for only the _summer_. How was I born in August? Mom never knew how to answer that."

Annabeth gave it a thought, but it was Nico and Thalia who answered.

"For demigods, pregnancy is different that normal kids," they said in unison. They were already into the next sentence before they realized that they were talking at the same time. "For us it takes three months instead of nine." They looked at each other in shock.

"Three months?" Percy asked in English before switching to Greek. "_You mean, Big Three demigods?_"

"Yeah," they said together. "Okay. Stop that! No, you! _NO, YOU_!"

"Both of you stop it!" George said loudly. It reminded of him of those time with Fred too much.

Everyone froze and stared at George, who hadn't spoken often during the reading or raised his voice so loudly. He maintained a glare at Nico and Thalia, both of whom were curious as to how the other knew about that sort of pregnancy. The mothers never understood why the growth was so fast and the gods never explained, as tradition. Except in Nico's case. Bianca had told him in Elysium, and Hades had just confirmed it. Thalia, on the other hand, had discovered that pattern with Jason.

"Sorry, George," they said together before groaning in exasperation.

"I thought we were the only ones who did that," Conner muttered to Travis.

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"He might have visited you," Thalia pointed out.

"I think he might have, yeah," Percy agreed.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"Percy Jackson!"

"I know! I'm sorry!" He winced at the glares he received.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out. My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said — that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me — all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"A cyclops was spying on you?" Annabeth whispered, confused. "Was he a servant of your dad or a rogue?"

"I don't know."

**Before that — a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Like Heracles," Nico asked. Percy nodded. "Well, I know you didn't have his powers of strength so that is impressive."

"Thanks."

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

"And suddenly your grades aren't an issue anymore," Hermione said, sounding apologetic. Harry and Ron stared at her in mock surprise. "I think your life matters more."

Percy smiled. "Thank you, but I try to do well."

"You'd better."

Everyone laughed. 'There's the Hermione we know," Harry and Ron thought together.

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy — the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"A camp?"

"Be patient, Ron."

"But Hermione—"

"Ron?"

"...Really, Harry?"

Harry rolled his eyes and strolled passed the fireplace, staring at the glowing embers as he did so. Ron was pouting at the carpet and Hermione had clamped her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh aloud.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad — who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born — talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp..."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

"Is sending you away that bad?" Neville asked.

"My mother loved me very much," Percy sighed. "She knew the risks of having me, but knew the risks of being a demigod. And she knew that demigods had the rottenest luck. She was scared to lose me."

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

Harry shivered as he stopped pacing in front of the fireplace. He hated vivid dreams.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

'_Representing Zeus and Poseidon's battle_,' Thalia and Percy thought together, shuddering.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, _No!_**

Percy shivered. Even Thalia looked unnerved. A fight between their fathers was never good.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end. Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice — someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Grover asked indignantly.

"I think you know."

"...Oh, right."

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror — not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

**"_O Zeu kai alloi theoi!_" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

"What does that mean?" Luna asked curiously. "What he said?"

"Oh Zeus and the other gods," Nico replied.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Oh, they give her an answer!"

"_Ron!_"

"...Sorry, Hermione."

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on — and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be...**

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"**

**Grover ran for the Camaro — but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

"And that's when I saw the satyr side of you."

Grover blushed. "That's what the title meant," he muttered. "I wasn't wearing pants."

"Yeah, about that," Percy said, wrinkling his nose. "Why weren't you?"

"I needed to run fast," Grover mumbled, "and the pants were restricting me, so I had to take them off."

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"I'm done," Grover said, holding up the book. His throat hurt from reading all that.

"I'm next," Thalia said eagerly, taking the book from him. "It's time to see what other ridiculous title Percy's book has."

'_Considering what happens next, it may not be a good one_,' Percy thought, feeling jumpy.

* * *

**Thanks go to ****Taka, mizz-shy-gurl, Splashfire, Idea, moon beam light, SeanHicks4, freefall-gypsy ,lunalovegood0628, and Sakra for reviewing.**

**To Sakra: I use word notepad to write most of the time, but I use word as well. I don't know why, but Nico just struck as the guy to end up in Japan a lot. At least for my story. You don't see too much background for him in the books, so I wanted to give him that. As for Luna, well, she's just awesome like that. Couches are overrated.**

**To lunalovegood0628: I'm honestly trying to work that out. I don't think he'll bounce back to his old self in only a few chapters, but I'm trying to slowly build him back together. It will be a while, but I'll work on making him a little more active.**

**To freefall-gypsy: I'm not going to include Harry's 'Master of Death' status right now. It's mainly Percy's story for now, but I'm sure I can work in bits of the wizards and witches parts. And I'm definitely doing 'The Demigod Files', but after 'The Battle of the Labyrinth'. Tales of the Three Brothers... well, I've considered doing Beedle's work, but I'll wait until I start Harry's books for that.**

**To SeanHicks4 and moon beam light: Thanks. I've looked around and there aren't many readings like this. It's either Harry's side alone, or Percy's side alone with the same stuff over and over. I wanted something new.**

**To Idea: I've given a Nico-George chat a thought before, but I'm not considering doing that too soon. Right now, I have George in a state where he doesn't want to talk about Fred yet, so I wouldn't go into a talk with Nico just now. A talk about Bianca will come up, but not in this book, Maybe the next, or in 'The Titan's Curse'.**

**To Splashfire: Thanks. I've gotten bored of all the characters understanding everything that happens, most of the time. Having the story written like this gives me a chance to write in a way where they're learning new things about each other, like when I first started reading the books.**

**To mizz-shy-gurl: Well, I've updated soon, but after this one, I'm not sure when the next will be, but I'm hoping as soon as possible.**

**To Taka: Yeah, well, the Fates are deities to be feared and respected. I figured it best to write them that way, since they are important to Greek mythology.**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	8. My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting

** Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter or Percy Jackson... or Greek Mythology.**

**Note to below: I haven't started off the chapter reading immediately because I wanted to show was happened to Harry when he rushed out of the room. Yes, we've all accepted that they're reading together, but have we really questioned the 'where'? Time to start the mystery of _where_ the two groups _really_ are...  
**

**Another note: I was never fond of this chapter because it made me sad a lot, so if it isn't all up to what the others were, I'm sorry about that. It's hard for me to write for this.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting**

* * *

Harry mentally scowled himself as he walked briskly down the corridor. _The Boy Who Lived_ — _The Chosen One_ — had faced Lord Voldemort multiple times, gone up against a basilisk, dementors, dragons, death eaters, inferi, and several other dangers over the years. Yet when his ex-girlfriend gave him a compliment and his best friend — who happened to be the older brother of his ex-girlfriend — glared at him, he had decided to run for the hills.

'_Yeah, well, relationship are more dangerous_,' he thought, but then he groaned when he realized how stupid that sounded.

Suddenly he came to an abrupt halt. He looked around and realized that he had _no clue_ where the kitchen was. He turned around, but then he realized that in his haste to get away, he had not taken the time to memorize the way back.

'_Well that's just great!_' he thought sarcastically, wanting to bash himself in the head. He could have sent a Patronus message, but he had not learned how to do so yet. He could just produce the Patronus. And that was not made for giving directions! It was for protection! He turned towards the other corridor and saw light coming in from outside. There was a window. He hurried up to the shining glass. When he looked outside, he saw no sun or moon, just colored clouds in the lavender and sunset-orange sky.

'_Okay, think_,' he told himself. He quickly pulled out his wand and said, "_Point me!_" It whirled around on his palm until it was facing his left. That must be north and he was facing the east. Where had his bedroom or reading room been facing? He had not bothered to check before. Harry bit back a groan of frustration.

"Where am I supposed to go?" he exclaimed angrily. There were times like this when he wished he had a map!

Suddenly he heard a strange cracking sound coming from the wall behind him. He whipped around, his wand at the ready. Then he realized what was happening and froze.

He had not paid attention to the smooth, polished wooden panel on the wall until now. He watched as it neatly folded back to reveal a large glass mirror. He had a brief glimpse of his shocked reflection before gold lines started to crack into the glass, forming a mirror-like version of the Marauder's map.

"Whoa," he said, stepping forward. The map was labeled, "_East Side_", so he figured it would tell him where he was. He scanned it carefully, and sure enough, he saw a dot labeled "_Harry Potter_" at the central edge of the map. Then a line started to form from his dot down the corridors — or the lines representing the corridors — until it came to a room that was labeled "_Kitchen's Area_." Under that was a series of direction patterns: **_Go left, then another left, down, right, another right, left, up, right, another right, you are here_**. Other than that, there was nothing else on the map.

"Can you tell me where my friends are?" he asked uncertainly.

The mirror formed a few words for him to see: "_North Side_". There were no further instructions.

"Thank you," he said. He looked at the directions and quickly memorized the pattern. Once he got it into his head, he ran down the corridor towards the kitchen. Little did he know that there was someone looking after him through the mirror...

* * *

"Left ... left ... down ... right ... right ... left ... up ... right ... right," Harry muttered under his breath as he ventured through the corridors. He followed the directions carefully, making mental notes of his surroundings as he passed. The walls were white marble and stone with gold, and silver, and bronze inlaid into the walls. There were statues of gods and goddesses — or at least that was what he assumed — and portraits of them as well. There were flowering plants growing by the windows, some of genera he had never seen before. There were times when he stopped walking, sure that he had heard a woman singing, but then it stopped and he would move on, but more unnerved than before.

Finally he got to the kitchen. It was bigger than the Reading Room and shaped in an oval form. It was full of silver muggle appliances, some sleeker than anything he had seen at the Dursleys or any other muggle home. There was a huge stone fireplace at the other end of the room and a long dinner table in the middle. On the left were the stainless steel appliances, and on the right were the refrigerators and cabinets full of food and drink. There was no one in here, but he had the feeling he was being watching.

He walked briskly over the white gleaming tiles until he got to a refrigerator taller than Ron. On the front of it was a note. Harry pulled it down and read it:

_**To the demigods, satyr, and Oracle of Camp Half-Blood, and wizards and witches of Hogwarts, welcome to my kitchen. I am sure that Apollo has said you are in Stars, my home. I do wish you all to be comfortable, so feel free to take what you want from here. You are my guests, and I hope to meet you soon. And no, Mr. Potter, the food is not poisoned. But I am sure that Mr. Alastor Moody would have been proud that you have come to that conclusion. The best to you, and constant vigilance, V.V.A.**_

The note was written in an old-fashioned, curvy yet beautiful hand-writing that Harry was sure belonged to a woman. _V.V.A?_ Those had to be initials of her name. She spoke of Apollo. She said this was her home. He had no clue who she was, yet there was a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach that told him that he could trust her, but he had his doubts. He didn't feel remotely in danger at all in this place, but it puzzled him that someone could live in such a huge household like this. He was sure that it wasn't on earth. Either that, or the outdoor appearance was simply an illusion.

He put the note back on the refrigerator and pulled opened the door. There was a variety of foods in there, like cheeses, ketchup, vegetables, something about microwavable meals, but no drinks. He closed the door and when to the other refrigerator next to it. Inside was a variety of cakes and ice-creams, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, along with a lot of muggle treats and sweets, M&Ms, Mars Bars, and Oreos. There were a few Wizarding snacks there too, but that was not what he wanted. He went to the next refrigerator and found several drinks in there. Many he had never heard of, like Mountain Dew, Carib and Angostura, but he was sure that they belonged to the muggle world. He pulled out a cold glass pitcher of water and rested it on the mahogany dining table. Looking around, he saw glasses stacked neatly by the cabinets and had to walk all the way over there for one. The glass looked so fragile that he would not risk summoning one lest he break it.

He poured himself a drink and put the pitcher back in the refrigerator. He picked up the glass of water and gave it a small sniff. Maybe Mad-Eye _did_ rub off on him, but it could not hurt to check. Nothing smelled wrong, but scents could be deceiving. Closing his eyes, took a small sip. Nothing happened. He took another. Nothing happened. He waited a minute. Nothing. The water was safe after all. He looked around the room and spotted another map next to the doors. He hurried over and scanned at it.

It showed him that he was in the North Side. Scanning carefully, he saw several dots in a room labeled "_Guest Common Room_". '_So that's where we've been reading_,' he thought as he saw the names of his friends and the Greeks. There were directions leading back to the Common Room, and like before, he memorized them.

* * *

Harry was half-way on his trip back to the Common Room when he heard that singing voice again.

"_Rise is the sun to the sky above, lest the moon should play further its stay_," the voice sang out, sounding more beautiful that words. "_My heart is wounded — my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry..._"

Harry stopped walking and looked around keenly. There was no one there at all. He expected the singing to stop, but it continued this time.

"_Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love. I hold you dear, my brightest dove! Oh, can you see it?_"

Harry started walking in the direction of the voice. She sounded heartbroken as she repeated her words. He didn't have any clue what was going on, but he knew he had to help her. Running with a glass full of water was no easy task. He dripped water on the carpets as he passed, and would stop to drink away some of the liquid so there would not be any to throw away.

And then the voice stopped. Harry froze and looked around. He had run off the direction's path. The corridors were completely unfamiliar. The walls were not white marble, but dark paneled. There were no map's around, not even when he asked.

He was stuck.

"Oh great," he snapped. "Now what?"

Someone giggled from behind a doorway. Harry looked around and came face-to-face with a double door entrance that looked exactly like the ones he had exited when he had hurried away from Ron and Ginny. Looking around the corridor, he realized it looked the same too. He heard the giggle again — it sounded like Ginny — and it came from the other side of the door.

"Ginny?" he called, tugging at the door. It wouldn't open. The giggling stopped. Harry tugged at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Hello? Guys, are you in there?"

Silence. Harry got frustrated and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the door and said, "_Alohomora!_" Nothing. "_Alohomora!_" Again, nothing.

'_Maybe this isn't the right door_,' he pondered to himself as he tried to open the door. He ended up kicking it, hurting his toes in the process, and a giggle rang out across the corridor. Harry looked up and saw the red-headed Oracle standing at the other end of the corridor, her arms folded with an amused expression on her face.

"So, Mr. Potter," she said, walking briskly towards him. "You've had your friends worried. What are you doing here?"

Harry blushed. "Trying to get into this room," he muttered in embarrassment.

"Why?" Rachel asked. She frowned at the door and put her hand on the handle.

"It's won't open," Harry said. "Look." He pointed his wand at the door knob again. "_Alohomora!_" It wouldn't open.

"Was that spell supposed to open it?" Rachel asked. Harry nodded. "Hmm." Rachel studied the door knob and twisted the handle. Harry was about to tell her not to bother when the door swung right open.

"How did you do that?" he gaped. Rachel looked surprised as well.

"I don't know," she said. "Let's see what's inside, shall we?"

Harry nodded and the two of them quietly entered the room. It was dark in there, so Harry lit his wand and held it aloft. The first thing he saw was a bookshelf. Then another. Then another. There were tons of shelves, and several books. Rachel lit a lamp on the table to their left and the room got light enough for them to figure out what sort of room they were in.

"A library," Rachel muttered. "Just as big as the one on Olympus."

"Olympus?" Harry asked.

"The home of the gods," Rachel replied. "I've been in that library during the war. It's huge, just like this place."

"It looks bigger than the one at Hogwarts," Harry muttered and he walked around, looking at the rows there were. It made him feel edgy it they reminded him of how big the Hall of Prophecy was, and he had no pleasant memories of that place.

"Why did you come here?" Rachel asked, her voice with with curiosity and bemusement.

"I heard someone singing," Harry muttered, equally as confused. "I've never heard that voice before, but it was — beautiful. I could have sworn it came from in here."

Rachel sighed. Looking around, she could see nothing she should not have. "I don't think anyone's in here, Harry."

"Anymore," Harry replied stubbornly.

They continued looking through the aisles, but there was no one around. It surprised Harry that the place wasn't dusty. Someone must have been around to clean up, but so far, they saw no one.

"Can we leave now?" Harry asked. "The others are waiting."

"Yeah, sure, the others aren't far," Rachel replied as the left the library.

"How did you know where to find me?" Harry asked as they walked down the corridor.

"Apollo," Rachel said. "I heard his voice telling me where to go. He does that sometimes, like when we all first met. He told me to go upstairs and get the books while you guys were talking... You said you heard a voice singing?" She glanced at him.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, she sang: '_Rise is the sun to the sky above, lest the moon should play further its stay. My heart is wounded — my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry. Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love. I hold you dear, my brightest dove! Oh, can you see it?_' She kept singing it over and over. Then she stopped when I got outside the library."

Rachel froze in the middle of what Harry was saying. "What did you say?" she asked slowly. Harry repeated what the voice had sang. "Oh my gods," Rachel muttered. "She's here?"

"Who?" Harry asked.

"I'll explain later," Rachel said quickly. "I promise. As soon as we finish reading for the day. I think I know who you heard, but I can't talk about it now, not when their waiting." Rachel pointed to a open entrance into a room where Harry could hear Ron and Hermione bickering.

"You've been gone twenty minutes, so we'd better get back," Rachel informed him. Harry grabbed her arm. "What?"

"Twenty minutes?" Harry asked. "I haven't been gone that long." Rachel stared. "Have I?"

"Time must be different in the corridors," Rachel muttered. "Like the Labyrinth. How long do you think you've been gone?"

"Fifteen minutes at highest," Harry said. "And what's this about a labyrinth?"

"It will come up in Percy's books. And I've been with you only approximately five minutes," Rachel muttered. "Okay, we don't tell them what happened, not until we're certain, do you understand?" Harry nodded.

"What do we tell them?" Harry asked. He knew he could trust Rachel. He didn't know how, but he did.

"That you got lost," Rachel replied. "Ended up in the backyard, or something. Maybe the library bit, but not the singing. I _need_ to think about this."

"Got it," Harry said. Then he looked at his glass. "I don't remember this being full." Sure enough, the glass was brimming at the top with clear liquid.

"It must be enchanted to refill," Rachel muttered. "Come on, we can't waste time."

Harry and Rachel walked into the room and Ron and Hermione's voices started to raise. Nico caught sight of them and tried to interrupt the couple twice before succeeding on the third round. Harry put the glass to his lips just as Rachel put her hand on his shoulder.

"Remember, don't tell them anything they shouldn't know," she whispered. Harry nodded, making it clear that he understood, and Rachel went back to her seat between Conner and Nico.

"Oh, there you are, Harry," Neville said cheerfully. It was clear that he was trying to lure Harry's attention away from his two best friends. "Where have you been?"

"I found the kitchen, but I got lost coming back," Harry said sheepishly. It was the truth there. Then he added the lie. "I ended up in the backyard."

"Yeah, then I found him trying to get into the library," Rachel laughed, making it clear in her eyes about what she was laughing about.

'_Oh sure, laugh because I hurt my foot_,' Harry mentally grumbled, but he blushed all the same. "Hey, I didn't know it was a library! It looked a lot like the doors in this room!"

"Well, it was locked!" Rachel grinned. "Even your '_Alohomora_' didn't work on it. And you should have known that when no one answered you."

Harry grinned sheepishly. She'd heard that much? Even if she didn't, she was a good actress.

"How you opened it, I still don't know," Harry replied. That was a real mystery. He's tried and tried before and she only had to go once.

Rachel laughed as Harry blushed behind his cup. He mentally sighed and was about to return to his seat when he saw a problem. It was between Ron and Ginny — the two people he wanted to avoid at the moment.

"Um, I think I'll stretch my legs for a while," he said hesitantly. "You all continue." '_Some Gryffindor I am...it's bad enough I was like this nervous in sixth year, but now?_'

* * *

Harry paced around the room for the rest of the reading. He came to stop in front of the fireplace to watch the embers burn. He turned and glanced at Rachel, who was staring at the ground in concentration, though she managed to still participate in the reading. Finally, Grover came to the end of the chapter.

"I'm done," Grover said, holding up the book.

"I'm next," Thalia said, taking the book from him. "It's time to see what other ridiculous title Percy has." She glanced at the page and Harry could tell she was resisting a grimace. "**Chapter Four: My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting**," Thalia read before succumbing to grimacing anyway. "Interesting..."

"Not really," Percy groaned. He knew what was coming next and he didn't like it one bit. He was just grateful to have his mother back.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas. Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"It's fur, Percy!"

"I know that! But when I didn't understand this stuff, what did you expect me to think?"

Silence came from the satyr's seat.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo — lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

"Are you calling me a barnyard animal?" Grover asked.

"Well, you are half-goat," Percy teased. Grover groaned.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

**"Watching me?"**

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."**

**"Urm ... what are you, exactly?"**

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

"Hmph!" Grover huffed, still rather upset about that. "I'm not a donkey!"

"Do I have to repeat what I just said?"

"...No."

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"**

Thalia coughed when she tried to repeat sound. "I'm no good at it," she said. "Could you do it, please, Grover?"

Grover made the "**Blaa-ha-ha**" sound with a smile.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

**"Goat!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from the waist down."**

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

"Um, Grover, could you please make that sound again?" Thalia asked.

Grover chuckled. "**Blaa-ha-ha!**"

"Thanks," Thalia smiled.

**"There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"You just found out he was a satyr and you're thinking of Mrs. Dodds?" Perce asked incredulously.

"Well, it was a confirmation that she existed!"

**"Of course."**

**"Then why—"**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"I'd like to know what this Mist is," Ron grumbled, but no one bothered to answer him. He'd just have to wait.

**"Who I — wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

**"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

**"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment.**

"I was."

Thalia laughed, nudged Grover in the ribs, and continued to read.

**"Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

"Nico's dad was after you?" Hermione asked, startled.

Percy nodded. "Yep."

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination.**

"Seriously, Percy?" Thalia added, looking at him. "With what you tell at the campfire sometimes—"

"Just keep reading," Percy groaned.

**I could never dream up something this weird. My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

Travis perked up at the mention of strawberries, thinking of a certain daughter of the goddess of agriculture who didn't like him very much. This didn't go amiss by his brother who suppressed a smirk.

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

**"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means — the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."**

**"Whoa. You said '_you_'."**

**"No I didn't. I said '_someone_'."**

**"You meant '_you_'. As in me."**

**"I meant you, like '_someone_'. Not you, _you_."**

"I'm surprised I understood that," Ron said, gaping. "That's really confusing."

"Well, I was trying to confuse him," Grover admitted sheepishly. "You know, distract him long enough to get him to safety."

"It didn't really work."

"...Thanks, Percy."

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid — a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

"What was that?" Harry asked. Thalia smirked.

**"What was that?" I asked.**

"Okay, this needs to stop happening," Neville snorted as Percy and Harry groaned in unison.

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

**I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness — the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

"You're now getting this?"

"Conner, shut your trap!"

"Gee, Thalia..."

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.**

"WHAT?"

"Guys, will you wait?" Grover and Percy yelped.

Thalia hurried to the next line.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time. I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay..."**

"Is that your answer to everything?" Annabeth asked, disgruntled. She remembered the state Percy had been in that night. It had not been good.

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's side-doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, _No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!_**

Despite the seriousness of the situation, everyone snorted at that. Even in the darkest of times, Percy still knew how to be humorous.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

Grover chuckled. He really needed to stop doing that.

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player.**

"Football—" Ron started, but half the room cried out, "_NOT NOW, RON!_"

"Okay, okay!" Ron yelped, sinking into his seat.

**He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy — you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

**"What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

"Oh, _that_ tree," Thalia said, grimacing.

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

**"Mom, you're coming too." Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

"She's not going with you," Luna said sadly, not as a question, but as a statement.

Percy closed his eyes and nodded.

**"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands — huge meaty hands — were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns...**

"What is it?" Ron asked nervously.

No answer.

**"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

**"But..."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then — mad at my mother, at Grover the goat** (Grover chuckled dryly at this)**,** **at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"That would explain the title," Perce said softly. George was tense in his seat. He didn't like where things were going.

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

**"I told you—"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear**

"Excuse me?" Thalia asked, looking at Percy incredulously.

"True story," Percy shrugged.

**— I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms — which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

**"Pasiphaë's son," my mother said.**

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Pasiphaë was the wife of King Minos," Annabeth explained. She ignored the look on Nico's face at the mention of the old king. "He was supposed to sacrifice a mighty bull to Poseidon, the God of the Sea, but decided against it. In revenge, Poseidon cursed Pasiphaë to fall in love with the bull and that creature was the result."

"_EXCUSE ME?_" Ron blurted out, turning green. "She had a kid with a _BULL_?"

"It's called 'zoophilia' and it's awfully disgusting," Annabeth agreed, ignoring the bile in her throat. "To spare you of those details, the creature was called the Minotaur. Minos had Daedalus, a son of Athena, create a Labyrinth to cage the creature. Years later, it was killed by Theseus, a son of Poseidon."

Ron still looked green, and he wasn't the only one. "Continue with the story before I vomit. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Neither do I," Annabeth agreed, looking paler than usual. Percy was trying not to gag. His father in his youthful days wasn't always pleasant to hear about.

**"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

**"But he's the Min—"**

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

**The pine tree was still way too far — a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows — or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**

**Oops.**

Some of them chuckled dryly, but most were still too much in shock about the Minotaur's history to even try.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way — directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

'_That wasn't selfish_,' Percy thought to himself. '_I understand that you love me that much, Mom, but it was a risk keeping me near. Not selfish, but dangerous..._'

**"Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

Percy grimaced. That had led to the worse days of his life. That was until her got her back. It was one of the two times he was extremely grateful to his dark uncle.

Annabeth caught his reaction and took his hand into hers for reassurance. Percy smiled grimly at her and squeezed her hand. It was bad living through this once, but again? At least this time he was no immediate danger.

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right — it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest. The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

Everyone started to get jumpy, even Percy and Grover, who had lived through this. They were all aware that this wasn't going on live, but even through words, they could feel the adrenaline Percy had; the fear; the danger...

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"Oh no," some people muttered.

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away.**

Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Hermione all gasped softly, their eyes wide. Harry had frozen in front of the fireplace. Ron immediately grabbed Hermione's hand. George sunk his face into Perce's shoulder while Percy Weasley himself gaped at the book. Conner and Travis gulped. Nico looked grave and, like Grover, Rachel, Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy Jackson, had to keep reminding himself that at the present moment, Sally Jackson was at home, safe and sound.

**He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "_Go!_"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.**

Thalia's voice trembled as she spoke. She still couldn't believe what had happened to Mrs. Jackson-Blofis. The Brits were gaping at the book in horror. George's eyes were brimming with tears again.

He hated death.

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs — the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

Grover shuddered. He didn't want to die like that.

**I couldn't allow that. I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

"What are you doing?" Hermione whispered in a horrified voice.

"Pulling a death trap," Annabeth grumbled.

Percy sighed. Most of his ideas were dangerous, but lots of the time they pulled through.

**I had an idea — a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

The room tensed as the atmosphere in the room heated up.

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

_"Bloody hell!"_

"_Shh_, Ron!"

**How did I do that?**

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils. The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

'_It's a good thing I figured that out_,' Percy thought grimly.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then —_ snap!_**

'_That's incredible_,' Thalia thought, despite her distress. '_He must have had powerful adrenaline to do something like that_.'

She didn't know the other Greeks were thinking along the same lines.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

Percy closed his eyes, trying to block out the images from his memory.

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate — not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

Everyone exhaled in relief, but they were still shocked by what happened to Sally Jackson.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief.**

Everyone looked at Percy sadly, but his eyes were still closed. Annabeth kissed his forehead and he opened his eyes to look at them. Most of them had pity in their eyes, but he saw understanding in Harry's, and felt a rush of gratitude towards him. He didn't want pity, and Harry seemed to acknowledge that.

"Thalia, how much more is there?" he asked.

"Not much," she whispered. She took a deep shaky breath and finished off the chapter.

**I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover — I wasn't going to let him go.**

Thalia stopped reading to wipe the tears in her eyes. All the girls had tears in their eyes. Harry stared at Percy in shock as well as sympathy now. He knew what it was like to lose a mother, but he distinctly remember that Percy said he had a new step-father. Wouldn't his mother need to be around for that to happen. Hope started to build up. Maybe Percy would have better luck and get his mother back.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione whispered, leaning against a wide-eyed Ron.

"She'll be okay," Percy said, his voice shaking. He didn't like reliving that part of his life. "She's not dead." He glanced at Nico who nodded in agreement.

The Brits relaxed a small bit, but they were still in shock. Thalia cleared her throat.

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

"Cue Annabeth," Travis said hoarsely, attempting a smile. He failed.

"A princess?" Annabeth sniffled, burying her face into Percy's chest.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"No."

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

Thalia stopped reading and gave the book to Nico.

No one said anything at all. Perce was trying to get George to stop crying again while the girls wiped away their tears. Nico didn't start to read yet. He felt really sorry for Percy. He knew that he had lost his mother in something far worse. He knew what it was like to lose a mother and envied that Percy had gotten his back.

"So, are we going to continue?" Percy asked, trying for a laugh.

Nico sighed. "If you say so. Hopefully the next chapter will be better."

"It probably will," Percy said. "I'll still be upset about my mother, but you'll find some ridiculous stuff there."

"You're telling me," Annabeth said, beginning to smile.

* * *

**This was never one of my favorite chapters. I always cry when I read about Sally, even though I know she'll be okay.**

**Thanks go to ****MissLunaLovegood1999, ** **lmao234, tarkatan, LunaLovegood0628, Xenna McCarthy, SeanHicks4, little moon childern, anon, Sakra, Taka for reviewing on the last chapter.****  
**

**To Taka: I never noticed that. Thank you for pointing it out. I went and corrected it because when you read it, it sounds funny. Even if you understand what I meant, it's still a little odd to read. I spent ten minutes laughing because I couldn't help but see how ridiculous it really sounded. As for the chapters, I had a few of them typed out. Not all of them, but a few. I add in the dialogue when I'm finished.  
**

**To Sakra: Yeah, Nico did get a lot in the last chapter. I just couldn't resist putting it in. That may happen to him again at some point, but I don't know when.  
**

**To anon: Only one god has an influence here, and it isn't Hades. How I'd love to bring Fred in, I'm not sure if I will. I hate seeing George so upset too. It breaks my heart.  
**

**To little moon childern: I have considered bringing in other people, but not for this book. I want these characters to get used to each other before I add anymore people. I know that for the Sea of Monsters, I may add two more people. If I don't, it will be for The Titan's Curse.  
**

**To lunalovegood0628: I can't wait to do the Titan's Curse as well. Actually, I can't wait to do all the books. I've read them so much that I really do understand how the characters think, so I don't have to put dialogue and interactions they wouldn't normally make. I'm tired of people only making the good characters stupid in fanfics. It's funny but irritating sometimes.  
**

**To lmao234: Well, I haven't actually planned that out, but when I think about it, it always something bad. I'll make sure to include it in the last few chapters.  
**

**~o~****  
**

**Here's a question for you to consider: What do you think is the meaning behind the words of the voice's singing? It could be anything, and I already have it in mind what it really means, but I want to hear what you think.  
**

**~o~  
**

**So that's all for now. Review and feel free to point out any errors I've made. I've gone over this like seven times, but who knows. Maybe I overlooked something. I think this is my biggest chapter yet. :)****  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	9. I Play Pinocle With A Horse

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**Love me or hate me, but what's done is done. Even I'm still startled about it. Everything happens to Nico...  
**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**I Play Pinochle With a Horse**

* * *

"What ridiculous stuff?" Conner asked. "You mean, like tripping over the—"

"That included," Percy groaned.

Travis chuckled. "Bette was teasing you a lot over that one."

"I know, Travis. I know."

"Who's Bette?" Ginny asked.

"Our half sister," Conner replied. "We have a lot of half-siblings in the Hermes cabin."

"Can I read now?" Nico asked, looking annoyed. Everyone nodded. "**Chapter Five: I Play Pinochle With a Horse**," Nico read before cracking a smile. "You know, I don't think he would appreciate you calling him a horse, Percy."

"I know," Percy grinned. "You should've seen his face when Tyson called him a pony."

The Brits stared at the laughing Greeks, all bemused. George wiped his teary eyes and sat up.

"You feel better?" Perce whispered to him.

"Not really," George whispered back. Perce sighed.

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"What kinda dream is that?" Conner asked, fighting a smile. Demigods had a lot of strange dreams, but he'd never heard of one like that.

"Better than the ones I usually have," Percy grimaced, thinking back to all the frightening dreams he had had in the past.

"Well, we can blame Grover and Old Bullhead for this one," Nico smirked.

"Bullhead? Why didn't _I_ have come up with that?" Percy groaned. "I always referred to him as 'bull-man' in the last chapter. This name sounds better."

"Bullhead sounds stupid too," Rachel pointed out.

"But it's more realistic," Nico said. "He had a head of a bull."

"I wonder why that was," Ron grumbled, feeling his stomach churn at the thought of the minotaurs history.

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding.**

"I like pudding, but I don't know how it would be with popcorn flavor," Luna said randomly.

**The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

"Why were you smirking?" Luna asked. "He isn't awake to eat properly. So it wasn't that funny."

"I know," Annabeth said, amused. "But his expression was. His eyes were like a doe's. So innocent and clueless." She mimicked the expression and everyone chuckled.

"They were not!" Percy protested.

"Yes, they were," Annabeth countered.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"If I was so clueless, why'd you bother asking," Percy asked, fuming slightly.

"I never said you were," Annabeth said evenly. "And I knew something was up. I had hoped that you'd know something about it."

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would over hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone. A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes — at least a dozen of them — on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

"I know, I know, you don't need to correct me!" Percy said hastily before any one of his friends could correct him. "I know it's more than a dozen."

"Um, did you say he had eyes on his arms, and cheeks, and forehead?" Ron asked, repulsed.

"A Panoptes!" Luna said eagerly. "Daddy told me about them. They're creatures who live in the east who have a hundred eyes all over their bodies."

"Sure, Luna," Ron said, unconvinced. Hermione and Perce seemed to think along the same lines. Annabeth, on the other hand, was impressed.

"Very clever," she said smiling. "That was Argus Panoptes, though we refer to him as 'Argus' alone. Panoptes translates into 'all eyes'. He was created by Hera. He did mention he got relatives over the years. They usually stay in Greece, their homeland."

Luna smiled happily that her information was accepted, and not ridiculed. Ron gaped and Hermione looked stunned. Harry suppressed a laugh.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries.**

"Sounds pleasant," Neville smiled. "It must look beautiful."

"It does," Travis said without thinking. "The strawberries are a nice touch and all, but—"

"But what, Travis?" Conner grinned. "Something you'd like to say?"

Travis chocked on his words and turned beet red. "Nothing," he mumbled.

"No, Travis, we want to hear about this," Thalia said, grinning.

The rest of the demigods were smirking at him. Rachel and Grover were both trying to keep a straight face, but Grover could feel the embarrassment coming off of Travis and was starting to lose the battle.

"Are we missing something?" Neville asked.

"No!" Travis replied before anyone else could. "No! No, you're not! _Nico read!_"

Nico had stuffed his hand in his mouth so he wouldn't laugh, but as soon as he saw Travis' glare, he coughed and turned quickly to the book.

"I still think we're missing something," Neville whispered to Ginny.

"Be patient," Ginny whispered back. "It's like a raid. You stay down until you know they're not looking, and then spring." Neville nodded, remembering how he, Ginny, and Luna had pulled raids against Snape and the Carrows during the night and got back to the Gryffindor tower without being caught.

**There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

"Ouch," Perce said sympathetically. "That's gotta hurt.

"I know," Percy said wearily. "I went through it."

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"Will you all stop calling me that?" Grover grumbled, making a few people snicker.

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And...**

"It was too much to hope that it was a dream," Percy sighed. "I didn't want to believe it."

The Brits looked at him sadly. They'd all lost someone they cared about and didn't want to believe it because it hurt too much.

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I ... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

"Seriously, did you not hear your mother say names have power?" Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"Like I would have understood what she had meant when I was still trying to figure out what was going on," Percy grumbled, glaring at her.

**"Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea—"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really ..."**

**He looked down.**

"I felt so bad that day," Grover sighed. "Like a real failure."

"You're anything but a failure," Percy said, smiling at him. "I don't blame you at all for what happened that day."

"Thanks Percy."

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"I know how that feels," George said in a shaky voice, staring up at the ceiling to blink away his tears. "I know it all too well."

He looked so sad that the Greeks didn't have the heart to ask him what was wrong; he looked like he was going to collapse in heart-wrenching sobs.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off.**

"I'm sorry, what?" Ginny asked, staring at Grover like she never saw him before.

Grover chuckled. "Like this," he said, getting up to his feet. He put on his sneakers so they couldn't see his hooves, and then stomped his left foot really hard. The right sneaker flew right off and landed at Luna's feet. She picked it up curiously and pulled out a firm piece of white material from inside it.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Styrofoam," Annabeth replied. "A kind of expanded polystyrene, a sort of plastic. Grover uses it to take up the extra space inside his shoes so he wouldn't fall down a lot."

"I know what plastic is," Luna muttered. She held the Styrofoam in her hand. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure," Grover said. "But can I have my shoe back?"

"Oh yes," Luna said graciously, handing him back the sneaker.

**I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"I could have done with a warning there, buddy," Percy joked, earning a few snorts from the Stolls.

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

"Do you use Styx as Shit?" Ron asked, earning a slap from Hermione. "OW!"

"Watch your language! There are children present!" she snapped.

"Where?" Conner and Travis asked, looking around. Rachel smacked her forehead. It was obvious Hermione meant Nico, but they all knew that Nico was only a child in size and attitude. Mentally, he was much older.

"Nico," Hermione said, gesturing to the kid like it was the most obvious answer.

Nico gaped at her. "You're not serious, are you? I'm probably older than you!"

The Brits stared at him. "What?"

"Long story," Annabeth sighed. "For the record Ron, the answer is yes. Let's continue."

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky. As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it. Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head.**

"My horns are visible now," Grover grumbled. "_Don't_ you dare think of shaving my head." He glared at the Stolls. "That's right, _I'm talking to you_."

"Yeah, Juniper will murder you guys. Where will her hands go?" Thalia said, winking. The Greeks bit back a laugh; only Nico failed.

"Oh, be quiet!" Grover snapped, turning pink.

"But how will I read?" Nico joked, and the Stolls, as well as Ron and Neville, snorted.

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs. All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light. I was alone. An orphan.**

Harry winced.

**I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

"You must really hate Gabe," Neville commented.

"I feel the same way about the Dursleys," Harry sighed. He drained the last of his water from the glass and went back to his seat. He kept his gaze away from Ginny and distanced himself from both her and her brother, staring directly at the book. Ginny sighed while Hermione gave Ron a '_We'll talk about this later_' look.

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid — poor goat, satyr, whatever** (Grover nudged Percy with a smirk on his face)** — looked as if he expected to be hit.**

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."**

**"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

"You nearly blacked out trying to talk to him," Harry muttered, looking worried. "Don't strain yourself."

"You sound like my father," Percy joked.

"Who is...?" Hermione asked, trying to look nonchalant.

"Not telling," Percy grinned.

"Hmph," Hermione huffed. Ron suppressed a smirk.

**"Don't strain yourself," Grover said.**

"Correction, Percy: Harry sounds like Grover," Thalia chuckled.

"That's not a bad thing," Grover muttered to himself.

**"Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies.**

"Is that a bad thing?" Ron asked. Liquid cookies sounded delicious to him.

"At that time to me, yes."

**And not just any cookies — my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears at Percy's words. He really loved his mother very much.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"That was so odd," Percy said softly. "The drink was actually cold, but it tasted warm."

"What was it?" Ron asked.

"Nectar, the drink of the gods," Conner said. "It tastes really good."

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."**

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Home made."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

**"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

"Why not?" Neville asked.

"It could kill him," Travis said simply.

"Oh." Suddenly, the wizards who had been thinking about tasting nectar were starting to rethink those thoughts.

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

Harry smiled at Percy. He was just as stubborn as him.

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture, an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena, except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"Winged horses?" Ron asked. "Hey, didn't Beauxbatons arrive at Hogwarts with Winged-horses?"

"Yes, they did," Hermione nodded.

"We call them pegasi," Percy said. "Can I go get some water? I'll be right back."

"We can wait for you," Ginny said, but Percy shook his head.

"Nah, I know what happens," he said. "I'll be right back. Anyone else want something?"

The Brits shook their heads but the Greeks didn't. Just as Percy has asked the question, they all immediately thought about what they wanted to drink. Nico was about to ask for grape juice when his eyes suddenly went blank.

"Can I have a lemonade?" Thalia asked.

"A coke?" The Stolls asked.

"Water," Annabeth and Grover said.

"Orange juice," said Rachel.

"Limoncello," Nico said after his eyes had returned to normal. The he blinked a few times like he was momentarily confused.

"A what?" Percy asked, confused.

"You'll — you'll know when you see it," Nico said, blinking in surprise. Percy shrugged and walked off to get the drinks. He had reached the doorway when Harry called him to a stop.

"Oh, Percy, wait!" Harry said, walking over to him. "The Kitchens Area is on the North Side of this building. Right now, this is north." He pointed towards the window. "If you get lost, just ask. There are maps in the walls."

"Really?" Percy asked, surprised. Harry nodded.

"I witnessed them myself, but I got lost because I took a wrong turn," Harry said sheepishly. "All you have to do is ask for directions and they show up."

"Cool," Percy nodded. "Thanks for the tip." Harry smiled and Percy left the room. He was gone before Annabeth could stop him, so instead, she turned to glare at Nico just as Harry returned to his seat.

"Nico! That's a lemon liqueur!" she snapped. "Why would you want that?"

Hermione gasped. The Brits looked stunned. The Stolls looked impressed.

"Um.." Nico looked momentarily perplexed, like he couldn't understand why he ordered it as well. Then he jutted his chin out in an act not to care. "If I have to stay and listen to Percy's thoughts, I'm going to need it," Nico said, sounding miffed.

Harry could tell from Nico's body language that he didn't mean that. It was like watching someone listening to someone else's orders on how to behave.

"Besides, I'm a son of Hades," Nico continued, not keeping eye contact with anyone. "The hellfire in my blood decreases the intoxication for some reason. I think it's because Dad drinks a lot after Demeter's rants and he needs to stay sober to do his job. It's alcohol directly from Mr. D I have to worry about."

Everyone stared at him.

"Stop that or I'm going to torch someone," he said. Annabeth and Hermione looked ready to argue, but Nico dived back into the book. He didn't want to explain that sudden decision. All he knew was that it _hadn't_ been made by him.

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them. The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels — what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park.**

"Mr. D would murder him if he were here," Thalia giggled, clutching her stomach. "Percy was right. This is a good chapter."

"Percy has that affect of Gods, doesn't he?" Rachel mused, smiling in amusement.

**He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father.**

**"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron..."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.**

"Aw, I would ace that!" Ron groaned. "I wish Flitwick of McGonagall would do that."

"Of course you would," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. She glanced at Harry but he kept his eyes on the book.

**"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

"That's rude," Luna commented.

"That's Mr. D," Annabeth sighed. "He's always like that."

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

Everyone chuckled at that.

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"Of course I would," Annabeth said proudly. "At the time, I was actually wondering if he was the guy Chiron talked about.

"What's that?" Perce asked. Annabeth shook her head and mouthed, "_Later_."

**She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, _You killed a minotaur!_ or _Wow, you're so awesome!_ or something like that. Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

"Obviously, what else would she say?" The Stolls said, slipping out of their seats onto the floor with Luna as they all laughed.

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"**

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

"I use to feel that way about V-Voldemort," Ron muttered softly so only the Brits could hear.

"Like 'You-Know-Who' was any better," Harry snorted.

**"Oh. Right. Sorry."**

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in,**

"Chiron-Brunner?" Annabeth sighed.

"Percy's lucky he's not here, or he'd get a long lecture," Travis said as he returned to his seat. Conner remained on the ground with Luna, which surprised his friends.

**"I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"What do you think he did to him?" Conner asked.

"Nothing dangerous," Annabeth assured him. "Exactly what, I can't comprehend, but he would have used the Mist."

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

"That was a test?" Harry said incredulously.

"In a way," Annabeth said. "You see, for demigods, the first trial is survival. If you survive, then you are worthy enough for training to _keep on_ surviving. If not, then — well, it's obvious what that would mean. You'd be dead and you would have failed in just being alive. Demigods are born with instincts to live, to survive, to never accept defeat unless they are faced with death and humiliation. We do anything and everything. That's why the gods see us as the best individuals to carry out tasks for them. We have the ability to pull through. They are also bound by Ancient Laws, so they can't do many tasks on their own. They need us."

"Being a demigod sounds complicated," Ron muttered.

"No, it's not," Ginny protested. "It sounds simple: you survive and train to continue living. You do work for the gods because you have the strength and ability to do it while they're bound by Laws not to do so."

"How is it you're good at summarizing so much?" Ron asked. "I remember that time Lupin gave you a big detailed speech in the kitchen concerning Fudge and the Prophet and you managed it turn it into a few sentences."

"It's a gift," Ginny shrugged.

"They were talking about _fudge_ and a _prophet_?" Conner whispered to Travis as he returned to his seat. "I think being a wizard is weirder than being a demigod. What kind of conversation is that?"

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"What's there to be afraid about?" Neville asked.

"A lot."

**"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

**"I'm afraid not, sir," he said.**

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"He reminds me of Snape," Ron shuddered. He still hadn't forgiven the Old Potions Master, despite him being on their side.

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."**

"He should add Quidditch to that list," George mumbled to Perce.

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun — Chiron — why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile. Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

"He reminds me of Dumbledore even more," Harry said to Ron and Hermione, who both nodded in agreement.

**"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'**

**"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

"He should have watched that," Nico sighed. "It would have saved a lot of stupidity."

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know—" he pointed to the horn in the shoe box — "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods — the forces you call the Greek gods — are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table. I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

"Huh?"

"You eat cans?" Luna asked. That was odd.

"I'm part goat," Grover muttered, blushing. "So, yeah."

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

"That's not right," Ron gaped.

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as god."**

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God — capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about—"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

"They won't like being called smaller," Thalia whispered.

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

**And there it was again, distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"Why is it that science is always mocked when it comes to magic and this?" Hermione grumbled. She used to love science until she went to Hogwarts. After that, most of it never added up anymore.

"Because as magical and mystical beings, they just don't mean that much," Annabeth said. "We don't follow that many rules of science. We defy gravity, we can heal in an instant, we can perform acts mortals can only dream of. Science can't explain it, so lots of people, especially the gods, think it's useless because it can't come up with a plausible theory as to how it happened."

"If they think that way, then _that_ theory is useless," Rachel said, shaking her head. "Science can't explain what the gods can do, but it can still be applied in a way that can be understood. Like lighting a fire. A god would just snap their fingers and create a fire in the palm of their hands. Science would say that the god controlled the molecules in the hand to intensify the heat by scrambling the molecules at an incredible pace to snap the form fire by joining heat and oxygen—"

"What are we, in class?" Travis said, pretending to yawn. "Honestly, I always flunked Chemistry Class, and now you're putting me to sleep."

"Oh, shut up," Rachel scowled.

"I see your point," Hermione nodded.

"I don't," Ron said, sitting forward. "Is that what Science says about fire?"

"In a way," Annabeth said.

"Sounds complicated," Ron muttered. "Can't you just say that fire appears?"

The three girls sighed. "Nico, read. There's no explaining it."

Nico shrugged. "Okay, but I would agree with you there. It is a form of combustion." He raised his hand up for them to see. "Move the molecules fast enough, joining heat, oxygen, and fuel to get—" They saw a brief shimmer in the air around his hand and then black flames appeared. "Remove one of them, like fuel—" He clamped his open hand into a fist and the flames died out. "Bye-bye, fire."

Everyone stared at him in shock. He sighed and muttered with a blush in his cheeks, "Dad hired Albert Einstein as one of my tutors. But I'm not a brainiac or anything. Science isn't my best subject."

"That explains so much," Rachel muttered.

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson" — I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody — "what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals — they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

"That's a little insulting," Neville frowned.

"Mr. D doesn't care about that," Thalia said. "He hates demigods."

"Why?" Harry and Ginny asked together. Then they blushed.

"He has his reasons, but we never found out," Grover said.

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"I take it he's a god?" Ron asked.

"Yep," the Stolls replied.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

"It would be depressing. Just to live of and have everyone die around you. You would live forever at a cost," Harry sighed. "In the Wizarding World, many men searched the realm of magic for any way to take on immortality. The closest any of them got was the Philosopher's Stone, which would make the drinker immortal. Others... well they took a darker route, and it didn't end well. We are born, we live, and we die. That it the law of life in its constant cycle."

The Greeks and the Brits stared at Harry. Ron and Hermione smiled proudly at him. They knew very well what he was talking about.

"That is very well said," Nico nodded, smiling. "My father would agree with you whole-heartedly."

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that some day people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

"That was below the belt," Travis muttered.

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

"Harsh," Travis said. "He never said that to me."

"That's because we believed in gods before we got there, remember?" Conner reminded him.

"How did you know about it all?" Ginny asked.

"Our father visited us," the Stolls said in unison.

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe."**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"How'd he do that?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Magic?" Neville guessed, wondering the same thing.

"I dare science to come up with an explanation for that," Rachel giggled.

"'Mr. D, a man condemned to a camp for demigods, just broke a rule his father set for him,'" Nico said in a voice that a teacher would use to explain something. "'He is a overly large around his stomach — an overindulgence in food and drink which build up nutrience that he refuses to exercise away, despite always wearing a jogging suit — and a grumpy attitude cause by extreme annoyance and aggravation, perhaps by the fact that no one likes him and he has had a withdrawal from alcohol. Research has shown that such men are prone to being irritating and unliked. Here's a picture of Mr. D to demonstrate." Nico pretended to draw on an imaginary blackboard. From the movements he used, it was more like he was drawing a pig on its hind legs.

"Nico, stop that!" Thalia giggled. Everyone was laughing at him.

Nico grinned. "You wanted an explanation."

"Not like that!" Rachel laughed, looking at him incredulously. "Where'd that come from?"

"It's a technique Albert uses when I slack off and become disoriented," Nico chuckled. "It reels my attention back in. He uses different people as examples, like Abraham Lincoln, William Shakespeare, Christopher Columbus. He even used the Leaning Tower of Pisa once. You should hear what he says." Nico shook his head with a smirk.

"Aw man, if only our science teachers had been that cool!" Travis guffawed.

"Yeah," Conner smirked. "It wasn't scientific, but if you put it in the right voice, it can sound that way."

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

The campers sighed. They couldn't wait for Mr. D to leave.

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke.**

"I'd call that Transfiguration," Ron said.

"We'd all call that Transfiguration, Ron," Ginny sighed.

"Transfigu — what?" Travis asked.

"It's a subject as Hogwarts," Perce told him. "We can transform one object into another."

**He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time — well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away — the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. '_Be a better influence_,' he told me. '_Work with youths rather than tearing them down_.' Ha. Absolutely unfair."**

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

"It sounds like Ron when he doesn't get food," Ginny teased.

"Oi!" Ron protested.

**"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."**

**"_Di immortales_, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

"Wait, isn't Zeus the king of the gods?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Thalia nodded. "That's Daddy. I hate to believe that Mr. D is my half-brother."

The demigods turned green at the thought. It was bad enough he was their uncle, or in Nico and Percy's case — cousin...

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

"That explains the hang-over look," Hermione mused. "I take it he can't drink alcohol?"

"No," Annabeth said. "That's part of his punishment."

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

"Aphrodite's a god_dess_, not a god," Conner said, shaking his head. "If he thinks he can be mistaken for a woman, I think the alcohol has gone to his head, you guys..."

The two groups burst into silent laughter.

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

"I know, shocker!"

"Thalia, be nice about your brother."

"Annabeth, stop defending your uncle."

That shut her up.

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

Neville shuddered at that. Insanity constantly reminded him of his parents. They had lost their minds to the point where they no longer knew him. And that was because they were tortured. If Mr. D could do that just by looking at the victim, he never wanted to meet him.

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

**"No. No, sir."**

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher.**

"He does," Grover said. "It aggravates him a lot, but he's so used to it now that he just accepts it most of the time."

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"I just don't understand why we had to be punished along with him," Conner grumbled. "He's pure torture!"

"Just a couple more decades," Travis muttered hopefully. "And it'll be over."

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"Nope, it used to be there."

"We know, Annabeth. Let me read, please!"

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in America?"**

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."**

**"The what?"**

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know — or as I hope you know, since you passed my course — the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps — Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on — but the same forces, the same gods."**

"The Greek gods turned Roman?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Annabeth said. "Hold that thought, I'll explain later."

Hermione nodded eagerly, scribbling down a mental not on it. That made her her friends smile at her eagerness.

**"And then they died."**

"And I thought he could get no dumber!"

"Shut up, Travis!"

"Yes, Annabeth."

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture.**

At hearing this, Annabeth smiled. She really loved architecture.

**People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not — and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either — America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

"That's a lot to take in," Harry said. "I wouldn't blame Percy if he didn't believe it all at first. In the beginning, it was still hard for me to accept that I was a wizard. At least Hagrid didn't pile all the information on me like that."

"Who's Hagrid?" Annabeth asked.

"A friend of ours," Ginny replied.

"Um, guys," George inputted, drawing all the attention to him. They weren't used to hearing him speak. "Shouldn't Percy have returned by now? He'd been gone for most of the chapter..."

Everyone exchanged startled looks. They all knew Percy hadn't been there the whole time, but they hadn't fully registered the length of his absence.

"I bet he got lost like Harry," Travis said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, except Harry had the help of Rachel on his way back," Conner added.

"Should we send someone for him?" Thalia asked, looking towards the door.

Nico's eyes went blank for ten seconds, drawing a bit of attention towards him. Then he came to the present. "Um, let's wait five minutes," he suggested. "If he's not back by then, we send out a search party."

It was reasonable enough, but a few people wondered why he'd spaced out.

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"**

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be smores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"I remember someone else who adored chocolate," Harry laughed, thinking about Remus Lupin and how he always had a bar of chocolate on him wherever he went. He had once told Harry that the sugar helped him control his werewolf tenancies.

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear,**

Travis and Conner eyes widened as a grin started to form on their faces.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

"He's a centaur!" Luna said triumphantly.

"Oh great!" Ron grumbled. He dug into his pockets and pulled out three knuts, giving them to Luna.

"She's a Raven, Ron," Neville laughed. "It's never good to bet against them."

"Shut up, Neville."

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"Done," Nico said. "Who's next?"

"I am," said Rachel, taking the book from him.

Just as she was about to read, Percy returned with a dining car full of drinks. There were a lot of sandwiches there too.

"Percy, where have you been?" Thalia exclaimed, getting to her feet. Then she saw the dining car. "And where did you get that?"

"Um, Apollo left another note," Percy said, picking up a piece of paper from the trolley. "'**_Dear friends, seeing as you'll all get hungry and thirsty through this reading session, I figured it was best to give you this dining cart. It's for your snacking use in between meals. You can depend on it for drinks and appetizers but not breakfasts, lunches, or dinners. That way you wouldn't get lost going to the kitchen. And yes, Mr. Potter, I am talking to you. Enjoy, from Apollo._**'" Percy snickered.

Harry blushed as everyone laughed at Apollo's comment about him getting lost.

"I love this guy!" Ron said, grabbing up a sandwich.

"Do you ever stop eating?" Hermione sighed.

"Only when I'm full," Ron replied.

"Right," Percy said. "So, here's a lemonade for Thalia." Percy gave a tall glass full of the drink. "Cokes for the Stolls." He gave them their drinks. "Water for Annabeth and Grover." He handed them theirs. "A orange juice for Rachel." She smiled as she got her drink. "And Nico," he looked at the boy carefully. The two of them exchanged a secretive look that the others couldn't understand. "I admit you're technically old enough to drink, but are you sure you want this?" He held up a glass bottle with a pale yellowish liquid in it. For some reason, Percy looked both amused and sheepish by it.

"Yes," Nico said. Annabeth and Hermione glared at him.

"Okay then," Percy said in a tone that made everyone wonder what was going on with his. "There's a note here from your dad. He says, '**_Drink slowly or it'll go to your head. I don't think they need a ranter_**'." Percy eyed Nico like this had a double meaning.

"Got it," Nico said carefully, taking a small sip. Then he suppressed a laugh. "Let's continue."

Percy rolled his eyes and picked up his glass of water. '_Apollo, I hope you know what you're doing with this,_' he thought as he took his seat between Annabeth and Grover.

'_Trust me, Percy_,' he heard Apollo's voice say. '_If Nico gets drunk drinking that, and it's _not_ Limoncello, then I'm a mortal. Even he knows it's a fake_. _Besides, Nico just looks too young to drink. Why, his mother would be rolling in her grave if she found out_.'

'_Then why are you making them all believe it's alcohol?_' Percy thought back, keeping his face as blank as possible.

'_He needs an excuse_,' Apollo said. '_It's not the best, but Hades told me the reaction will be the same as when he as alcohol in his system. He wouldn't tell me how he figured that out in the first place, but I think we can get the point. Again, Maria would be rolling in her grave. If she were alive, I think she'd give Hades a mouthful if she found out that Nico's had alcohol before. Then again, all demigods have. Remember that time you and few of my kids, and Hermes kids as well, snuck a bottle of the stuff to camp of July 4th?_.'

Percy grimaced. '_Yeah, we had to wash dishes with lava for a month as well as scrubbing down the stables for two weeks. Damn, what do they feed those pegasi?_' He ignored Apollo's laughter and went back to the point. '_What reaction were you talking about anyway?_' Percy thought, watching as Nico drank from the "Limoncello". In actuality, he didn't know what it was, but he thought it had smelled sour and sweet all at once.

'_I think you know_,' Apollo thought back. In the distance, probably in Apollo's thoughts, Percy heard a woman humming. '_Who's that, Apollo?_' Percy asked. Apollo severed the connection and Percy realized the discussion was over. He turned his attention back to the room and found that the Stolls were laughing while Annabeth and Hermione were fuming.

"I can't believe you approve of this," Conner said, grinning.

"He is the oldest here," Travis nodded.

"How old are you?" Hermione and Ginny asked, startled.

"Let's just say I should be dead," Nico said calmly, taking another sip.

* * *

**Quick note, I would never be crazy enough to put a drunk man with them — unless it's Dionysus. And no, he will not join them. Apollo just has very strange reasons to do this. I'm sure if Nico had his way, he would have ordered the grape juice. I would have.**

**I made a small reference to the "Life In The View Of Ginny Weasley" story I have with what Ron told Ginny with the whole summarizing thing.  
**

**Science is not my thing, so I can't be blamed if I got something wrong up there. Okay, so maybe I can, but Science gives me a headache ... most of the time. I've started the Labs for it, and it's a little more interesting.  
**

**The part with Luna and the** **Panoptes bit was made up of course, but I'd like to think that there may be some truth in what Luna says, and people just don't understand because it's part of a different culture. I'm not saying Nargles are real, but some say that to every myth is a bit of truth.  
**

**~ o ~  
**

**Okay, now. Thanks go to Sakra, c0dy88, lmao234, moonphantom, LittleMe15, mystiquewitch, lunalovegood0628, PJO rulz, Fourteen things, SeanHicks4, JGS39, Taka, Aremis's Silver Wolf, Splashfire, tarkatan, anawesomeunicorn, Reading-is-4-life — (wow, that was a lot) for reviewing on Chapter 8. Honestly, that was a hard chapter for me to write.**

**To Sakra: It's Amiga. I really felt sorry for Percy having to relive that. I don't know what to think when Harry reads the part with Sirius. Oh great, now I want to cry again... Rachel has her suspicions on who the voice is, but it's not any of the Olympian goddesses.  
**

**To mystiquewitch: You're on to something with Harry and Nico, but I won't say anything more than that. The situation with Harry and Ginny isn't exactly stabilized yet, so it will be a while for they have any sort of confrontation. And it wasn't Aphrodite singing. I'm not even sure if she sings, actually.  
**

**To lunalovegood0628: Okay, I actually typed up that chapter at least two hours before you asked that question. No lie, I really did. I swear on the River Styx. I actually found the coincidence amusing. He took up 20 dollars. I'm not sure if the drachmas count, but I'm just adding it in.  
**

**To SeanHicks4: Well, I thought it best to add the Poseidon bit because we all know he's no saint. And I'm positive that he is not innocent with what happened with Medusa, but I'm not completely sure how to write that out. Just know that he won't be put in a complete positive light. When you mentioned constellations, I thought a bit more of the singer. She's not exactly a goddess, but she has something to do with the stars. But she's not Artemis.  
**

**To JGS39: I would totally agree with you there with the vague explanations. A big payback on their part. And of course Harry would understand how Percy feels with lose. Maybe Luna as well, but I hadn't thought of that.****  
**

**To Taka: Oh, dear George has a long way to go. I really want him to walk around happy, but he's still in mourning. I wouldn't expect him to pick up so quickly. There's a reason I didn't put Harry's books first. It would only be a few chapters before they read about Fred, and I don't think that would have a nice affect. More like a slap in the face for the poor guy. Hopefully Clarisse's incident will affect him. I know it will affect the others. As for the characters, yes, those who are reading right now are staying for the whole reading event. I've given bringing in new people, but not for this story. For now, it's just these two groups, Apollo, and that singer.  
**

**~ o ~****  
**

**Okay, then, that was it. For now. I swear this has been the biggest chapter I've written in my life. Until the next chapter, you guys! :)  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	10. I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**As I'm sure you all heard how Heart of Aiur was going around and having the "Reading the Books" stories deleted off of fanfiction. As he puts it:**

_**"Don't care how well they're written, don't care how amusing it is to see the characters' reactions, if the story quotes more than one quarter its word count of ANY chapter from the book it deserves to be reported for plagiarism. These fan fiction authors do NOT own the Harry Potter series, yet they are presenting entire chapters of the books in their own work. Disclaimer's don't matter if they copy the book word for word anyway."**_

**At least he's gone and stopped it all now. I was worried for a while. That was a bit of an unfair thing to do. He/She didn't take any consideration about those who loved these stories.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom**

* * *

Percy would admit that he had gotten lost after the first few minutes down the unknown corridors. He had followed Harry's warning and stayed to the north, but then he took a wrong turn and somehow ended up in the south. He knew that for a fact, because when he asked for a map, it had told him he was located in the southern end of the mansion. Twice he had gotten lost on the way back, and that's when he heard a beautiful voice of a young woman. She was singing in Ancient Greek.

"_Oh dear, my love! How precious you are! As sunlight, you warm my soul!_"

Percy knew about monsters well enough to think that it was a trap at first. But then he heard a man's laughter and the singing stopped, turning into giggles. The voices echoed through the corridors, filling the air with happiness and light. That when Percy realized that something was familiar about the male voice.

It belonged to none other than Apollo, the god who put them all here in the first place.

Immediately, Percy hurried down the corridor in search of the voice's location. He held Anaklusmos tightly in his hand, but nothing attacked him. Nothing happened at all. He made a left, then a right, then another left and finally came to stop in front of two tall double doors the color of cherry wood.

'_This place is like the labyrinth,_' Percy thought wearily to himself. It didn't change on him, but it was so dizzying to navigate that Percy almost believed he was in the old maze again. He heard Apollo's laughing voice on the other end of the door. Quietly, Percy tiptoed up to the door and carefully placed his ear against the wood. He never used to eavesdrop, but after discovering he was a demigod, he gotten used to doing so often.

"Stop hiding, Guide," he heard Apollo say. "I know you're in here."

At first there was silence. Then someone answered him. "Well, I think we've both established that, don't we, _Sun Prince_?" It was the voice of the woman Percy had heard singing. "After all, this is my house."

"House?" Apollo said in an amused voice. "More like a castle than a house."

"It was a gift from Father," the woman — Guide, apparently — said back. "I've had it for longer than your existence."

"Dear Guide, don't tease," Apollo said. "Where are you?"

"You say you can always find me," Guide said in a voice so soft that Percy had to strain his ears to hear. "Tell me, Sun Prince, why should I reveal myself to you, when I am right here?"

Percy heard no answer. Then he heard Apollo whimper and a giggle rang out when he groaned in frustration. "Do you always have to that?" he asked, in a pleading voice Percy had never heard him use before. "You're worse that Aphrodite!"

Guide laughed. "Oh no, I'm not," she said. "If I recall, Aphrodite fell in love with you. Or was it _lust_? I, on the other hand, have not."

Heat crept up around Percy's neck. He never needed to hear anything about Apollo's and Aphrodite's love lives.

"Liar. I'm the god of truth, I know when someone is lying to me."

"Hmm, so do I. I wouldn't be _the Guide_ if I wasn't." After a few more seconds, she said softly, "I know why you think that, Pol, but there's nothing I can do."

Percy's lips pursed with confusion. Apollo hadn't said anything just now.

"Yes, there is, and you know it."

Apparently Apollo had said something, but Percy hadn't recalled him saying anything.

"I can't change fate. Not unless it is truly necessary. And this is something I can't — I won't — change." Guide sounded pretty sad about that.

Percy heard Apollo sigh. "You're so damn stubborn."

"Of course I am. How do you think I've avoided you all these millenia?" She sounded amused now. Percy frowned. He was no Annabeth, so he couldn't figure out who this woman was. He was sure that Annabeth would have a better chance, but she wasn't here.

"I used to think it was from a dare with Artemis."

Guide giggled. "No, it was more than that. Even the Moirai could see it. And Father doesn't approve of you."

"Why do you bring Chaos into almost every conversation we have?"

'_Chaos?_' Percy thought. '_Who's Chaos?_'

"Because he is my father, Sun Prince. I care what he thinks about this."

Apollo groaned. "Okay, then what does he think about this situation? About the demigods and the wizards? Does he know about that?"

"He would be a fool not to. And Father is no fool."

"And do you want to tell me why I had to bring them in here?"

"All in good time, Phoebus Apollo. All in good time. First you wait and then you wonder."

Apollo groaned again, startling Percy. "What is with you and your riddles? Always a riddle!"

"I thought you like riddles?" Guide giggled.

"Not like this," Apollo grumbled. Percy had never heard the god so disgruntled before.

"Alright then," Guide said, and Percy had a feeling she was smiling. "Figure this one out: Dare to speak, thus be heard with an ear and no eye."

"Easy," Apollo said. "That means someone is listening to someone else without seeing — wait a minute."

Percy's eyes widened. As soon as Apollo has said 'someone is listening', Percy's instincts told him to bolt. And that he did. He was already down the next corridor when he heard the door open.

* * *

After racing down the sixth corridor to his left, Percy had no clue where he was at all. He looked around the walls and asked for a map. For the words had fully escaped his lips, a large glass map opened up in the wall behind him, marking his position in the middle of the mansion.

"Oh great," he muttered. "Do you know where I'll I can go to get to the kitchen?"

The map displayed a few directions which let the northern side of the mansion, but not the kitchen. Apparent, that was out of it's reach. Percy memorized the directions and set off towards the northern side of the mansion.

"Up...left...right...right...left," he muttered until he came to the end of the path. He asked for another map and one formed up at the end of the corridor. He was in the _North Side_ now. It gave him the right directions to the kitchens and by the time he got there, Percy was exhausted. He'd been running and walking all over the place on an almost empty stomach. He was starving.

He pushed open the doors to the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt. The kitchen was huge, like the size of the Olympian Throne Room. It was shaped like a perfect oval or snowy white walls with pillars edged into the design. They were so tall that Percy's eyes were drawn up to the ceiling. On first sight, you wouldn't even notice, but when you looked carefully, you'd see that the ceiling reflected beautiful stars forming from purple and green nebula. Percy gaped up at it in awe. He had never seen anything so mystically beautiful before, and he had seen a lot of beautiful yet dangerous places.

Suddenly he heard someone cough and his attention was drawn back to the kitchen floor. He was able to get a brief glance at what else was in the room: There were plenty of stainless steel appliances that were in a few of his mother's home magazines. There were at least at least seven double ovens, five stove tops, six double-bowl sinks, about four microwaves, a few toasters and blenders. The cabinets were made of cherry wood, at least on the right side of the kitchen. On the left, all the cabinets and cupboards were steel. On the right were six stainless steel refrigerators. There were utensils and dish ware visible of the counters, but Percy's attention was now fully displayed to the middle of the room.

There was a long dining table leading to a huge stone fireplace at the central end of the room. Standing by the dining table was a tall, handsome young man with golden-blond hair, bright sky blue eyes and smooth fair skin. He was wearing a white cotton shit, blue faded jeans and brown flip-flops. He was busy setting up tall glasses on a dining cart piled with sandwiches of all sorts. He looked up at Percy and grinned.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Jackson," Apollo said in a pleasant voice. "I would have thought you'd still be lost after that little eavesdropping bit."

There was no point in lying to the god of truth. "I should have known you'd realize it was me," Percy said sheepishly. "I hadn't really intended to do that, but it just happened."

Apollo waved his hand. "Ah, don't worry about it," he said. "You didn't hear anything you weren't supposed to."

"I think I did," Percy said. Apollo looked up at him carefully.

"I might have thought so too," Apollo said, pouring lemonade into one of the glasses. "But everything happens for a reason. You were supposed to hear all that."

"Says who?" Percy asked. Apollo didn't answer so Percy continued. "Who was that girl you were talking to?"

"Not important for now," Apollo said. "Anyways, while you were gone, I thought I'd fix your friends' drinks. No doubt they'll be thirsty by now."

Percy looked at the dining cart. "Is this for us?" he asked.

"Yep, you and your new friends," Apollo said, grinning. "I know none of you have breakfast. Mr. di Angelo, Mr. Ronald Weasley, and Ms. Grace are bound to be starving by now. They have the biggest appetites next to you."

Percy frowned. "Speaking about that, why are we really here?" Percy asked. "And where are we?"

Apollo snorted. "Did you not read that letter I wrote?"

Percy blushed. "I mean the real reason."

Apollo laughed. "All in good time," he said.

"That's what that girl said," Percy recalled. "And it aggravated you. What'd you call her? Guide?"

Apollo blushed. He walked over to the refrigerator. "What was it that the Stolls wanted again?" he asked quickly. "Coke or Pepsi?"

"Coke," Percy said, but before he could ask something else, Apollo was already hurrying back to the dining table with an armful of bottles. "I was supposed to get the drinks, you know."

"Yes, and you didn't even know how to get here," Apollo teased. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Percy felt a little disgruntled. Not only was Apollo dismissing his questions, he was teasing him for getting lost. It wasn't his fault this place was so huge and confusing. He watched at Apollo poured out three glasses of water, two glasses of coke, one of orange juice, and placed them all next to the one of lemonade. Then Apollo picked up a small bottle of clear liquid and poured a quarter of it into a new glass along with a small portion of another called Angostura. Then he poured a different yellowish liquid in it that smelled like limes.

"What's that?" Percy asked.

"Lemon and lime mix," Apollo said. "Substitute of Limoncello, aka, a lemon liqueur."

"Lemon liqueur?" Percy asked, appalled. "Why would Nico want that?"

"I asked the same question," Apollo said. "As it turns out, that was never the real intention. You were just supposed to think that."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Nico wanted grape juice," Apollo informed him. "Not this. Guide just made a little tweak on the order."

"And you're still not telling me who she is," Percy grumbled. "Can she be trusted?"

Apollo smiled, his cheeks turning pink. "Of course she can," Apollo said, a strange tenderness entering his voice. "Even the gods love her."

Percy wanted to ask more, but he started to get confused by the starry look in Apollo's eyes. He had seen that look on Apollo's daughter, Lexi James, when she looked at Jeremy Woodman, a son of Demeter. It was even on Kayla Richtor, another of Apollo's daughters, when she looked at Alexander Daniels, a son of Aphrodite. He could tell where this look would be directed at: Guide herself.

"I'll take your word for it," Percy decided, embarrassed by where Apollo seemed to be right now. Apollo blinked his eyes and grinned sheepishly.

"Not a story we need to speak of," Apollo said, turning back to the drink. "Anyway, I can guarantee that Nico will be perfectly safe with this. It has the minutest hint of beer in it, but not enough to take any affect on him, even if he drank ten of it. Just note that he will be slightly more impulsive."

"Why is that?" Percy asked warily.

"Oh, it's not from the drink," Apollo said. "When Nico reads about how you think about Hades, he will not be pleased. This," Apollo held up the bottle of clear liquid, "is a tonic. It will keep Nico's powers down for the next few chapters as long as he gets at least half of it into his system. He can still use his powers, but to a smaller extent. Hades supplied me with it. Apparently, now that Nico is nearing puberty, Hades has found the need to give him this a lot. He tends to be more emotional for some reason, and his powers go haywire. The last thing anyone in that room needs is to be barbecued by hellfire. That's Nico's newest power."

Percy nodded. Nico, physically, was around 13, though in reality, he was somewhere in his 70's. He knew from experience that being a teenager was no picnic when it came to emotion. That's why tried to avoid too much of it.

"When you give this to him, don't let the others, especially Annabeth, know what it really is," Apollo said. "Apparently, the reaction he gets has to happen, though personally, I think it should be avoided."

"What reaction?" Percy asked.

"You'll see."

Percy groaned. That sounded exactly like how he spoke to the Brits. Apollo grinned and put the glass down on the dining cart tray. "Another reason for this is that the tonic can only mix with alcohol. That's why I used Angostura; it has a small percentage to hold it, but not enough for anything bad to happen. He can't get drunk because I didn't even put too much of that. Anything else would be useless and drinking it directly is dangerous. Hecate is working on a softer solution, but I have to find one myself because I don't think Hades trusts her too much after the war. They used to be good friends."

Percy drank in all the new information. "And you're telling me this because..." Percy said, trailing his voice near the end.

"Because one of you needs to be able to calm Nico down and know the right reasons behind the ranting," Apollo said. "And it has to be you. Even though Nico likes the rest of them, he trusts you the most. Like a brother."

* * *

Apollo led Percy down the correct corridors back to the Guest Common Room. All along the way, Apollo dodged questions concerning the Guide's real identity. Finally, Apollo decided to give him a hint.

"She was mistaken for a goddess once," Apollo said. "But she's more — ancient — than a regular goddess. That's not to say physically old, but she's existed longer than the gods. She looks around your age, maybe a little older."

"Who was she mistaken for?" Percy asked.

"A goddess who doesn't actually exist," Apollo replied. "She actually helped create a goddess that is known today, but not the way people think."

"Who did she create?" Percy asked.

"Not telling," Apollo said. "Let's just say that history marks her as a Titan, but she never was one. She just went along with the facade because she didn't want her actual identity to be known by mortals."

Percy frowned. He didn't know the names of many Titans, other than the ones he had to go up against in battle and a few others that Annabeth had told him.

"Just drop it for now, Percy," Apollo suggested. They had stopped out two open double doors and voices could be heard from within. "Just a quick word of advice, don't ask Annabeth about who Guide is, or speak to her about it until I give you permission. Guide herself doesn't want any of you to know of her just yet."

"Why not?" Percy asked.

"That's her business," Apollo shrugged. "She didn't tell me. I might as well respect her choice, would you say?"

Percy wanted to say more, but Apollo nudged him towards the door, dropped a note on the tray, and disappeared. Sighing, Percy took a deep breath and looked at the dining cart. He had several questions, but he realized it would be a while before they were answered.

* * *

**5 minutes later...**

The British wizards and witches stared at Nico with shock. Physically he was what? Thirteen? Fourteen? Somewhere in-between... yet here is his friends were all under the impression that he was the eldest in the room, which included them who were all at least a generation older than the Greeks. Nico took another sip of the 'alcoholic' drink, ignoring the glares he got from the girls and impressed looks he got from the Stolls, and muttered something in Italian. Whatever it was had Grover laughing.

"Nico, I really think you shouldn't drink that," Hermione said firmly.

"You sound like Demeter," Nico grumbled. "Dad has no problem with me — _drinking_." He put emphasis on the last word which made Harry frown. Nico was mocking it like he was only kidding. He eyed the drink suspiciously.

"I swear he's a bad influence," Annabeth muttered to herself. "Your sister would be ashamed of you."

The Greeks suddenly went from noisy to silent, causing the Brits to follow their lead, though they had no idea why. Nico paled, though his skin was white enough to be clean bone.

"Low blow, Annabeth, low blow," Conner said in genuine shame, shaking his head. "NEVER take the sibling route." '_It only hurts more,_' he thought, thinking about how he lost several siblings he cared about.

Nico glared at her, still pale, and said, "She no longer has a say in what goes on in my life anymore. The minute she left, she lost that say, so don't you dare use that on me again."

Nico's eyes were black as night, shining with hellfire that looked ready to kill. Percy put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something in Greek which seemed to calm him down.

"Annabeth, that wasn't nice," Thalia said softly. "I'd hate it if you'd done that to me. I don't like him drinking that either, but it's not like we'd let him get drunk. We're Greek demigods, we indulge, just leave him alone."

Annabeth bit her lower lip. "I know I'm sorry. It's just — I still him as a child."

"I am an adolescent, Annabeth," Nico said, "Physically at least. Mentally, I'm older. I may think like child sometimes, but I am not a child."

"Nico, honestly, how old are you?" Ginny demanded.

Percy smiled faintly. "Let's wait and see for yourselves, shall we? It's much more enjoyable." He turned to Rachel. "Let's continue, yeah. My dimwit comments tend to bring smiles to your faces."

"Too true," Rachel said. She turned to the book. "**Chapter Six: I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom**. Well...I don't know what to say to that."

"Oh!" The Stolls exclaimed. "I remember that!"

"It was awesome!" Conner laughed. "You were our hero for that one."

"What happened?" Thalia asked.

"You'll see."

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

Thalia reached over and swatted Percy on the head. "Idiot!"

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, but was laughing with the rest of them.

"Don't let Chiron hear you say that," Rachel warned, holding back a grin.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."**

Harry scowled. How many times had he heard that wherever he went?

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"Ugh!" Harry exclaimed, making everyone jump. "I _hate it_ when people do that! It happened to me a lot. They stare and whisper at you all the time, and take caution around you like a ticking time bomb. It's so irritating!"

"I know!" Percy sighed. "You'd think they'd have better things to do, right?"

Harry nodded in agreement, making the two groups smile. It looked like Harry and Percy would have no trouble getting along.

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized - four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"What was it?" Luna asked.

"The predecessor of a friend of ours," Thalia smiled. Rachel laughed inwardly. They weren't going to tell them about the Oracle, but she was aware that the Brits had been told that she was the current Oracle. They'd figure it out eventually.

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

**"Somebody lives there?"**

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

"Something is still up there," Harry pointed out.

"Yep, there are a lot of stuff up there," Annabeth nodded. "But nothing alive."

The Brits exchanged startled glances at the remark, amusing the Greeks.

**"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

"The strawberries are lovely, aren't they?" Conner asked, pretending to stare off into space. "So many delicious strawberries...wouldn't you say, Travis?"

He smirked at his older brother. Travis eyes had glazed over the second the strawberry fields have been mentioned. He was staring at a cupboard behind George's head, sighing contentedly.

"TRAVIS!" Conner yelled in his ears, causing his poor brother shriek and fall to the floor.

Everyone burst into laughter at the sight of the son of Hermes sprawled on his back on the floor next to the dining cart and Luna, who didn't laugh but looked startled. Then again, she always looked slightly startled. Travis blushed tomato red, got to his feet, sat back down in his seat and angrily elbowed his brother hard in the ribs. A loud crack broke the laughter in the room.

"OW!" Conner yelped, glaring at his brother. "Oh, _come on!_ I was just teasing you! That was no reason to break a rib."

Travis stuck his tongue out at him and glared at the floor. "Why is it every single one of my siblings always teases me about the strawberry fields?"

"Because it's fun," Conner wince. "Anyone got Ambrosia?"

"Over here," Percy said, going to the dining cart and taking up a small square of the food. "I guess Apollo though we'd need them. We do fight a lot."

"Thanks," conner sighed, eating from the square and waiting a few seconds. He felt the broken rib set and said up straight. "That's better."

The Brits were staring at them in shock.

"What?" Conner asked.

"You broke your rib," Hermione said faintly. Perce, George, and Neville gaped at the brothers, their eyes really wide.

Conner rolled his eyes. "I know. It was_ MY_ rib."

The Greeks chuckled.

"Shouldn't he see a doctor?" Hermione insisted.

"Nope, he's fine," Nico said, his voice sharp. He was still upset with Annabeth; the son of Hades knew how to hold a grudge. "It happens all the time."

"To all of us," the others sighed.

The Brits continued to stare, this time in amazement. Rachel sighed and continued. Whenever she got injured she had to go to one of Apollo's children. As a mortal, the godly food would kill her. It didn't matter that she was the Oracle. She had to follow that basic rule of mortals.

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

"I can now," Grover said proudly. "It took a lot of practice."

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."**

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

**"But he did that!"**

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

"That's a little unfair," Harry noted. "Once he was gone, you went out to go look for him. That was courageous. Shouldn't that count?"

"Not really," Grover sighed. "Not to them, at least."

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

Grover laughed bitterly. "That was my second chance..."

"What happened the first time?" Perce asked.

"Seeing as we're reading these books, we'll find out in a few chapters," Percy said.

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."**

**"How old is he?"**

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

"Say what?" the Brits cried out. They all gaped, wide-eyed, at Grover who turned rose red.

"Um, yeah. Satyrs grow up faster than humans," he explained "but we appear half their age, physically."

"How old are you now?" George asked softly. He wasn't in the mood to speak loudly.

"Thirty-two. I'm nearly thirty-three," Grover said.

"How old do you think we are here?" Hermione pondered to her friends. "Seeing as we're from two different generations...you guys" she indicated to the Greeks "might be in the generation after us. What year are you in?"

"August, 2009."

"We're in July, 1998, almost eleven years away," Hermione said. "Most of us were born in the 70's and 80's. You all would have been born in the 90's..."

"Actually, I was born in the 80's," Thalia said. "It's a long story which we'll find out later. I appear younger than Percy, but I'm older."

The Brits gaped at her. First Nico was older than he looked, now Thalia? Who else?

"Well then..." Hermione mustered her thoughts together. "We're 11 years behind you guys. In your time, I'd be 29, nearly 30. Meaning Ron, Harry and Neville would be 29, Ginny would be 28 if it's past the 11th...so would Luna...Percy — our Percy — would be 33 if it's passed August 22nd...George would be 31...Wow. Grover and Percy Weasley are around the same age..."

"I would be younger than you guys," Thalia said, thinking it over. "I was born in the late 80's. 1987 I think..."

"You think... You don't know?" Luna asked, confused.

"Yeah, it's sort of blurry." Thalia closed her eyes. "It's either '87 or '88...I'm sorry, it's hard for me to think of my past."

"That's okay," Neville said, frowning.

"Yeah, it is," Nico said, smirking at her. "Still, all in all, technically I'm eldest in the room in existence."

The Greeks burst in laughter, though they knew the situation was hardly funny.

Hermione groaned. "Nico! If you are trying to torture me, you're doing a great job! Can't you just tell us when you were born?"

Nico grinned. "I'll give you a hint. My father's son, my brother you could say (and he's older than me), lived around the time of a war."

"There are a lot of wars, Nico," Hermione grumbled. "How am I supposed to know which one?"

"It's a historical war that will never be forgotten. It involved the British Empire too. And America." He wanted to name the other countries, but figured that would give him away. "Lots of death, which was not pretty. Many really didn't deserve to die, but I guess it depends on the perspective of the side your on towards the other." '_The only side I ever took was Dad's and my siblings lost it_,' he thought to himself.

Looking back on it, Nico hadn't really understood enough of what was going on to take sides in WW2 and had just been biased in his choice. "Frankly, I have had enough wars to not want to think about them too much. Plus, Dad hated that period, he was so sick of the overload of ghosts cause it drove Thanatos and Charon nuts, just like the Civil War (which is not the war I'm talking about). _Whoa!_" He ducked the shoe Hermione tossed at his head. "Okay, just for that, I'm not giving you another hint." '_Not that I really want to think about all this anymore_,' he thought to himself, getting depressed. He'd lost his mother around this time.

"Do you guys know?" Hermione asked, turning to the rest of them.

"Yeah, but we wouldn't say," Thalia said. "He may be a scrawny brat, but Nico has a scary temper to rival me and Percy."

"We don't want to anger him, do we?" Conner asked, pointing a glance at Annabeth who winced and turned her head.

"Let's continue reading, please," Grover asked. "We've gone off track."

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

**"That's horrible."**

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career..."**

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"I wonder what happened," Luna mused softly to herself. The Greeks silently agreed not to say anything - yet.

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea — a tiny, hopeful fire — started forming in my mind.**

"Not one of Percy's ideas," the Greeks groaned.

"They're horrible," Travis added.

"Are not!" Percy grumbled.

"Are too," Annabeth smiled, pecking his chin.

"Wow, there's a Greek equivalent to Harry," Ron joked, earning a punch in the arm from the said person. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, that was meant to feel like a feather pillow," Harry said, shaking his head. Ginny burst into a fit of giggles which made Harry smile.

**"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

"Yep, I live there sometimes," Nico smiled.

"Something's wrong with you," Thalia said, shaking her head.

Nico rolled his eyes.

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words care fully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"That's wouldn't work, Percy never lets these things go," Annabeth sighed.

"Ron's right," Hermione giggled. "Percy and Harry are a lot alike." She got glares from the said boys but she ignored them. It was true.

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

"No," Percy snorted. "I didn't how things worked around there. I just got there."

**"My own—?"**

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

"Tell him about nonlethal challenges and then food, it must be Hogwarts over there," Ron joked.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.**

**"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

"He makes himself a point," Luna said.

"It never rains," Annabeth said. "Zeus makes sure of that."

"Unless he's in a bad mood," Travis grimaced.

He and Conner had had an awesome prank planned out that week but they couldn't go through with for a few days because Zeus kept raining down on camp. It had stopped on Percy's return, and a week later Travis had gotten slapped hard by Katie Gardner, who, at the time, was just another Demeter camper. Afterwards when she got Cabin counselor, he realized he had started to develop a crush on her so he regretted what he had done, but since pranks were the only way she noticed him at all, he continued to prank the cabin, earning a lot of yells from her. Conner and his other siblings though it was hilarious, especially since he would stare at her while she was in the strawberry fields with her siblings.

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

"Ah! Hestia," said Nico, a cheery smile coming over his face so he looked two years younger. "My favorite goddess. She's the only Immortal who doesn't grimace or flinch at the sight of me and Dad." He took a small sip of his drink and suppressed a laugh. This plan was going to blow if he kept doing that.

Everyone looked at Nico sadly. Since his father was Hades, gods and demigods didn't really like him. That was until he and his father came to fight in the war and earned their respect.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty? I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

Percy smiled at the mention of his father's cabin. Thalia had grimaced at the mention of her father's while Annabeth had scowled at the mention of Hera's.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

"It reminded you of Montauk?" Harry asked. So far he had taken note of a few water referenced points in the book. He was starting to suspect that Percy's father had something to do with water. He didn't know Greek myths, so he didn't know who. Hermione had also taken notice was starting to suspect a certain Olympian god herself.

"Yep," Percy replied.

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

"Clarisse," the Greeks muttered in anticipation. They were getting closer to the good part...

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

**"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

"That's true," Ron nodded. "We had centaurs near Hogwarts and we've seen them fight. Really good at archery, they are."

"So is Chiron," Thalia beamed. She loved archery.

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

**He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"A teacher forever?" Ron gaped, his eyes wide. "He must really like teaching..."

"Of course he does," Annabeth smiled.

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

**"Why depressing?"**

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

"So it's not boring but it gets depressing?" Ron pressed on. "Why?"

"Well, he only teaches demigods," Percy explained. "We're the prime targets for monsters. We die young. It must be tough for him to teach us, grow fond of us, then watch us die. We're like his children as much as his students."

"Oh." The Brits definitely found that sad and depressing.

**The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"Not exactly," Annabeth giggled. "More like, trying to see how much you'd be worth in anything."

"Doesn't that make just make me feel loved," Percy said sarcastically, not even bothering to tell off the Stolls for laughing like crazy.

0

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.**

"So, pun intended, then?" Conner asked, grinning.

"Just shut up."

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"That's because—"

"I know! I know! It is about architecture!"

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it...?**

**A caduceus.**

"What's that for?" Ron asked.

"It's the symbol of Hermes," Annabeth explained. "Mortals also like to use it as a symbol of medicine."

"All I know is that it's a symbol of teasing annoyance plus hilarity," Percy groaned, remembering George and Martha arguing. He glanced at George Weasley, wondering what he would say when he found out he shared his name with a snake on a pole.

"You've seen it?" Ginny asked.

"Yup," Percy nodded. "And having a conversation with it always ends up stupid or comedic."

He kept a straight face when he saw the confused looks he was getting.

'_He talked to a pole?_' Hermione thought to herself. '_Maybe he's not that much like Harry..._'

'_It did mention there were two snakes on the pole_,' Harry thought to himself. _'He could have talked to them, but only if he was a Parselmouth? Right?_'

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range. I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

"Yeah, totally," Travis snickered. "Bette thought you looked pretty stupid. You should have seen her laughing."

"Bette's your half-sister, right?" Luna asked for confirmation.

"Yep. Bette Gilbert. The best half-sister we have," Conner said proudly. "She usually helps us prank the girls around camp."

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

"What does that mean?" Perce asked.

"We wanted to know whether he was our sibling and had to permanently stay in the cabin with us, or an unclaimed child who belonged in another cabin and was only temporarily staying with us," Travis explained.

"Oh, thanks," Perce said.

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.**

The Greeks sighed softly at the mention of Luke. At least, in the end, he had made the right choice.

**"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"What happened to him?" Ginny asked. "How'd he get that scar?"

Harry grimaced at the mention of a scar. He had more than he'd like to admit. Two from the killing curse, one that caused the form of the Horcrux and the other that destroyed it, though he wasn't going to tell anyone about the newest addition. One from Nagini, one from the locket, and several from battles and duels.

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.**

"I was not blushing!" Annabeth protested.

"Then why was your face red?" Percy teased.

Thalia grimaced. "Every girl can get a first crush, Percy. From what I heard, lots of girls blushed around Luke."

"I did not have a crush!" Annabeth continue to protest. "Maybe you did! You blushed around him a lot."

Thalia blushed. "Shut up, you!"

This caused everyone to snicker at the two girls.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

The Stolls grinned evilly.

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"I did, but I figured I'd get nothing valuable," Conner admitted.

"I was wondering what sort of prank we could pull on you," Travis laughed.

"And Bette thought you were cute," Conner added, gagging.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, relax, Annabeth," Travis smirked. "Bette's not interested in him."

"Though Sasha might be," Conner added. "Or was it Jenna?"

"Nah, I think it was Sarah," Travis disagreed.

"She's dating Brock," Conner said, grimacing. "I don't like him. But maybe it was Trish..."

"Will you two stop naming siblings who are interested in my boyfriend?" Annabeth said, scowling.

"Sorry," the Stolls muttered. Then Travis said, "No, Trish doesn't like Percy. She likes Pollux."

"Oh, right, and Sasha likes Nico," Conner nodded. "I totally forgot about that."

Nico spat out a mouthful of his drink. "Excuse me?" Nico yelped.

The Stolls froze. "_Rachel, read!_"

Giggling, Rachel hurried back to the book while Nico sputtered broken words at he Stolls.

"Why does everything happen to that poor guy?" Ginny whispered to Harry and Neville.

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

"You weren't the first person to say that," The Stolls chuckled, though their tones were grimmer. It was hard to live around people who didn't know who their parents were, become their friends at some point, but then leave to join the enemy, all because of fact one.

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

**"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

"That was us, Garrett, Sammie, and Bette," The Stolls grinned. Then they remembered Sammie died in the war and their faces were suddenly morose.

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"I can't believe you were thinking of getting married so soon," Conner said, placing a hand over his heart.

"And to this loser, too!" Travis added, pretending to faint.

"Hey!" Annabeth and Percy protested, blushing. The Brits were smiling at the Stolls' antics.

**"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"**

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

**"To get killed?"**

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."**

**"Yes."**

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes."**

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."**

**"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"Well, blimey, that clears it all up," Harry said sarcastically, shaking his head.

Rachel giggled when she saw the next line.

"What?" Neville asked.

"Just this," Rachel said, smiling.

**"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

Harry blushed at the laughter directed at him

"I knew these two are so much alike!" Ron nearly yelled, earning a punch in the shoulder from Harry and a slap in the arm from Hermione.

**"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arche types. Eventually, they re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword -"**

**"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

"Harry does that too!" Ron and Hermione said, grinning as Harry turned a darker shade of red.

"Not all the time!" he grumbled.

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.**

"You'd need me for that," Nico said slyly. He was still upset about what Annabeth had told him.

Percy sighed. He was going to have to talk to Nico about the grudges again.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We'll see," Nico said, his eyes shining with hellfire again.

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

**"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

**"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

Everyone looked at Percy sadly.

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.**

"More than my liking," Annabeth sighed.

**"Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say—"**

**"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

**"You don't know anything about me."**

**"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

**"How -"**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

"All demigods are like this?" Hermione pondered aloud to herself.

"Most of the time. Sometimes, you get only one trait," said Thalia. "It's completely rare when you get neither."

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD — you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

**"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"**

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

**"Ambrosia and nectar."**

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid.**

"Wait," Ron interrupted before Rachel could finish the sentence. "By normal, you mean mortal, right?"

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"If I were ever to take this, I'd die," Rachel added. "You all are mortals too. Just special mortals. Demigods and gods are the only people who can eat this stuff."

"So, if we were ever to eat it," Neville said, putting those pieces together. "We'd die?"

"Yep," Conner said, "but they can heal half-bloods. How do you think I mended my rib?"

"Oh," Hermione said. "That clears that up."

Rachel continued reading.

**It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"Are all of you violent?" Hermione asked, her eyes shaped like slits.

"Sort of," Nico said. "We're demigods, so were always hunted. We have to know how to fight to survive. Some are just too violent, like Clarisse. She's likes wars."

"Why?" Ron asked. Who on earth would like wars? He'd lost friends and a brother in a war.

"Give me a minute to read and you'll see," Rachel said patiently.

**"_Erre es korakas!_" Annabeth said, which I somehow under stood was Greek for '_Go to the crows!_' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"**

"Oh, that would explain it," Ron said, sighing.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "After Greece fell and Rome took over, they had a high honor towards Ares, who they called Mars Ultor. You can imagine what they were like."

Everyone shuddered. All the Greeks, except for Rachel, had been in the presence of Ares, and he was a bad influence on their attitudes...

**"You're always so quick on the uptake," Annabeth shook her head.**

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

That broke the somber mood of the Brits. Percy really had a humorous attitude.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

**"Percy."**

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

Harry grimaced. "Please tell she's not going to do what I think she's going to do."

"What do you think she's going to do?" Percy asked, holding back a smile. In the end, Clarisse really hadn't done anything but humiliate herself.

"Something I'm not going to like," Harry said, frowning. Dudley had done that to him a few times in his childhood. It still hurt to think about those days...

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking - as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out — that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"I'll start planning the design then," Annabeth giggled in Percy's ear, making him grin.

"Why does everything happen in the girl's toilet?" Ron whispered Harry, who shrugged.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

"Normally I would hit you," Annabeth said, glaring mockingly at Percy, "but I knew Clarisse could be nasty when she wanted. I knew I couldn't interfere and I was worried about you."

"Thanks," Percy said, smiling at her. "But I think I handled the situation pretty well."

Conner and Travis were turning red from nor trying to laugh. They were eager for what happened next.

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder.**

The Brits frowned at the new description.

**Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me. ** **I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.** **The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

Everyone started laughing at the mental image of Clarisse getting hit with towel water. Hermione and Rachel grimaced at the thought, but the guys were roaring with laughter. Thalia had to clutch onto Nico's arm to control herself. Grover had to cover his face so no one would see the tears of mirth rolling down his cheeks.

Hermione and Harry, after controlling themselves, shared a small look. '_More water,_' they thought together.

"What?" George asked with wide eyes. He was starting to grin.

"It arced over his head?" Ginny giggled incredulously. Neville was shaking with silent laughter. Perce seemed was trying to control his breathing.

"Yes," Percy said proudly, bringing around another laughing session.

"Best day ever!" Conner manage to choke out, fist bumping in the air.

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

George turned red and buried his face into the couch, shaking with laughter. It sounded a little hysteric, but he was laughing all the same.

"Wicked," he said as he resurfaced, looking dazed, but amused. All the wizards looked at him in shock. Did George Weasley just laugh?

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

"Thanks for that," Annabeth grumbled sarcastically. She hadn't appreciated that at all.

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock. I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

Hermione and Harry realized they were on the same wavelength here. They both silently agreed to call a break afterwards.

"That's odd," Luna pointed out.

"At least I wasn't dunked in towel water," Percy shrugged.

"Lucky you," Annabeth grumbled. She still hadn't forgiven him for that.

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you ..."**

**"I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

"Funny, you'd think I'd have stopped walking around," Percy said sarcastically, making everyone laugh.

Harry remembered he had said that to Malfoy once. He wondered who would remember said this when they got to that point. Of course, he'd have to relive Sirius's death first...

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

"Nice one!" Ron and the Stolls laughed.

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet. Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"I'm done," Rachel said, holding up the book. "Who's next?"

"I'll read," Conner volunteered.

"You can read?" Nico asked innocently.

"Ha ha ha," Conner sneered, taking the book from Rachel.

"Let's take a small break first," Hermione said. "I'm sure Ron wants something to eat."

As if on queue, Ron's stomach rumbled. His ears turned red as people laughed.

"Okay, but only fifteen minutes," Perce said. "We should finish the first book today."

"Yeah, so far it's been only two hours," Annabeth nodded.

"Harry, can I talk to you?" Hermione asked him as everyone got up to stretch their legs. Ron, Percy, Nico, Thalia, and the Stolls went to the dining cart and helped themselves to sandwiches. Neville and Ginny got to their feet and strolled around the room with Perce and Rachel.

"Sure," Harry said. The two of them walked to the other side of the room.

"I think I may know who Percy's dad is now," she said softly.

"I'm suspecting as well," Harry nodded. "I noticed all the water-based references in the books. He likes Montauk too, and he said Cabin Three smells like the beach."

"And he seems to control water too," Hermione agreed, glad that Harry was observant with these things. That always made everything easier to analyze and explain. "The only logical choice would be Poseidon. He's the brother of Hades and Zeus from what I can remember. I never paid Greek myths much attention, so I can't be of too much help here."

"Nico did say Percy was a 'sort of cousin'," Harry nodded. "By their godly parent, they are cousins. This would make sense."

"Then, what's with the 'sort of' part?" Hermione asked.

"Well have to read and find out," Harry nodded.

"Should we tell the others?" Hermione asked, looking at their friends.

"No," Harry said. "It's obvious Percy didn't say who his father was as a surprise. To build the suspense. We should leave the others to that."

Hermione nodded, smiling faintly. "Do you think the other's might figure it out? I don't know if Luna might, I have no clue about the material she usually reads besides the Quibbler. I know for a fact that Ron, Neville and Ginny wouldn't figure it out unless they had all the right information. And Percy, well, I'm not sure he's ever taken an interest in 'fictional' material to know the story."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Harry smiled and went to the dining cart.

* * *

**Thanks go to Trinity Fenton-Phantom, HG Trilogy, themarauderette11, Taka, katie223, hottygirl101, 1Dluva4347, Ihearttheboywiththebread, lmao234, Shadow Girl97, Reading-is-4-life, lunalovegood0628, SeanHicks4, JGS39, Sakra for reviewing.**

**Right now I've had a lot of school work to do, but today's a holiday in my country so I took the time to write this bit. If there are mistakes, I am sincerely sorry, I am really sleepy right now, so I'm not up to answering the comments in the last chapter. I just want an opinion here. Should I do the Heroes of Olympus series? That sequel series doesn't complete until a few years. Originally I just planned to do Percy's story, then Harry's and that was it. If I do HoO, then it would be Percy's side, then Harry's, then the sequel, because I don't want to wait years to do Harry's story. It's just something I wanted to ask, but I'm considering it.**

**Oh, to lunalovegood0628: I never had to research that one. I'm a Potterhead through and through. It's 713. I've read the first book so many times that it's almost literally imprinted in my head.**

**And I want to say thanks to those who are enjoying my story. I try to do my best. I don't want to go with the same pattern other people have. It gets old and boring. As for my update schedule, I don't actually have one. When I think the chapter is good enough, I upload it, but with exams coming up, that will be a little harder for me to do that at a constant pace, but when the summer starts, updates will be plenty. That is if I'm not doing anything. For now, I'll try with once a week.**

**Finally, I know that someone suspects who Guide really is. She is inspired by an actual Greek goddess/or Titan (not saying which, but it might be obvious), but has a more OC quality. If you can get who her inspiration was, that would be okay. Just know that Apollo has a thing for her.**

**Also (I had meant this AN to be short), I got a little scare when I heard the "Reading the Stories" fanfics were being removed. I literally prayed that it wouldn't happen, not just for my fic, but there are others that I adore from jlmill9, abbzeh, PJwings, and Point Given. Those are good. I was so relieved when that person stopped the campaign. That was the worst scare of the week for me. It topped the time when an apparatus with boiling hot water broke on my arm on Tuesday. Another reason why I don't like Science. Grrrrr!**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	11. My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke

**Disclaimer: I know nothing from these two series.**

**Honestly, there are rumors of another user trying to delete these stories again. First they say his/her name is "Delete the Clutter", but when you look it up, you get "Honey the Bee". I wish they would stop doing this, for crying out loud.**

**Nothing has happened to my story, but if something ever does, I think I'll join 'readingthehpbooks (.) proboards (.) com' like Point Given, but I don't want to resort to that. Just letting you know, but I hope this story remains safe. It's strange to me though, that as soon as I start this story, someone comes around to start taking others down. Talk about not in Fortuna's favor... :(**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**My Dinner Goes up in Smoke**

* * *

The dining cart automatically refilled once everyone had finished eating.

With only five minutes left for break, many of the readers had decided to walk around the room. None of them were too fond of sitting down for so long, especially the ADHD demigods.

Nico stood by the window, sipping 'Limoncello' as he stared up at the sky above. It was orange and gold now, flecked with pink clouds, but when he had gone to sit there before, it had been blue and green. Harry and Annabeth both noticed that every few seconds or so, Nico's eyes would space out. His mouth would hang open for a few seconds, then he'd come back to the present. Every time it happened, he looked even more disgruntled, like he wasn't pleased about it.

Thalia was talking to Ron — almost arguing with him would be a better choice of words. It was almost comical to see Ron cower at her glare. He was more than a foot taller than her in height, but she seemed to be two feet taller than him when it came to attitude. Grover and Perce stayed close by, just in case something were to happen. Perce kept glancing over at George, worried that something might happen to him, even though they were only feet away from each other. He hated himself for walking out on his family. Maybe if he had stayed, then things would be different. He looked at George and sighed. Maybe if he had pushed Fred out of the way, the Weasleys would have lost the least-liked sibling, not one of the most adored...

George sat by himself on the couch, watching the Stoll brothers talking to Luna. Luna herself had been wandering around the room when the Stolls stopped to talk to her. They didn't seem bothered by her uniqueness. On the contrary, they liked it. George was reminded of the times when he and Fred had been in first year. All the students had avoided them quickly because of their recklessness and pranking, but eventually they warmed up to them. Of course, they didn't completely trust them. Then they had made friends with Lee Jordan. He had been more of a loner through the first year. They had come to realize that he was fun to talk to,despite the fact that most people had pegged him as the weird one because he was too quiet. People had never even known he was ever there. He had never needed an Invisibility Cloak. A few months with the Weasley twins had changed that. It gave him the real courage to be the Quidditch commentator.

Watching the Stolls and Luna, George could see the pranksters befriending the oddball. There were always positives in that friendship. George sighed and looked down at this feet in shame. Ever since Fred had died, he had avoided Lee's company. He knew it was rude, but to have Lee around would just remind him that their group was incomplete; that his five-minute-older-brother was dead. Gone forever. He knew he should have been more open about it, but he felt like something had just cut him off from the world. From himself. He didn't know what possessed him to open up to Percy Weasley and not another of his siblings. He supposed it was because Percy had been the one to carry Fred's body back to them; to be the one that protected him, even after he had died.

As George's thoughts wandered, Neville went to bookshelves behind the couches on the right. Rachel was there, examining the hard-cover copies of books he's never seen, magical and muggle. Rachel pulled down a book called "_The Odyssey_".

"What's that about?" Neville asked, looking at the book in her hands.

"Oh, this?" Rachel asked, holding out the book from him to read. "It's a story-based off King Odysseus of Ithaca. It's a good read. He fought in the Trojan War for ten years, and it took ten years for him to return home."

"That sounds awful," Neville said, frowning. "It took him so long?"

"Let's just say that Poseidon made it hard on him," Rachel said sadly. "He made an offense to the god, and in return, Poseidon punished him by delaying his journey in many horrible ways."

"What did he do?" Neville asked. He looked down at the book in his hands. It was a brown cover, but the title was all in gold. He had a feeling it wasn't the original cover.

Rachel pursed her lips. "Why don't you read it?" she suggested. Neville looked up at her in surprise "I'm sure the owner wouldn't mind if you borrowed it for a while. You can read it in your room, because I don't think the others would be willing to add another book to the setting so soon."

Neville looked down at the cover. He liked reading before going to be. It relaxed him. "Are you sure the owner wouldn't mind?" he asked, not even sure who the owner was.

"Trust me, she'll be okay with it," Rachel promised.

"You know her?" Neville asked in shock.

"Not personally, but through my patron, Apollo, god of the sun and prophecy," Rachel said softly, looking around to see if anyone was watching. She saw Harry walking with Hermione and remembered that she was supposed to explain that to him who the host was as well. "But I can tell you she's a lovely woman. If Apollo trusts her, then I trust her."

Neville smiled and down at the book. Maybe he would read it tonight. Who knows if it would ever be useful.

* * *

Ginny wandered up the staircase towards the Wizard's Bedrooms. When she had woken up that morning, she hadn't believed her eyes when she had discovered where she had been. Her room had been the most beautiful she had ever seen in her life. The images of pretty cherry blossoms had been stenciled on to her white walls. Her room was filled with the pleasant scents of freesia, roses, and jasmine. Her bed was king sized with plush white silk bed covers under a silvery canopy that glittered like stars. A vase containing a beautiful bouquet of red and white roses stood on either side of the bed, right atop the nightstands. She had her own wardrobe and dressing table, both painted the color of caramel. Her red carpet was so soft that when she had stood on it, it was like floating on clouds. As she sat at the edge of her bed, she looked out at the gold and orange sky through the wide window framed with light red curtains.

Waking up in this room had been a shock enough as it was, but she never got to fully appreciate it because she heard a boy's yelling coming from downstairs. That was went she found out what was going on. At first, she thought it was a dream, but as the readings went on, she realized that, despite her wild imagination, she could never cook up something like Percy Jackson's life. It was beyond words.

'_This Percy is really something else_,' she thought to herself. '_I can't imagine living a life like his_.'

She found Percy a little peculiar, and a little bit like Harry. But Percy had Annabeth. Ginny used to have Harry. That made her sigh. It had hurt her to see Harry avoid her so often. Even at the Burrow, he made sure to be shot of her unless he had to talk to her about something important, like the DA or Fred's funeral.

She let out a dry sob at the thought of Fred. She wished he could be here for this reading. She knew that he and George would have been all over the place sprouting jokes that would bust everyone's lungs. Percy, her brother, was really trying his best with George, but there hadn't been much improvement until now. She couldn't blame him at all. George has lost his other half. His grief intensified that of everyone else's. She couldn't imagine the thought of losing another family member. Percy Jackson had lost his mom, but he still claimed that she was in his life.

She didn't understand that. Ginny had begun to understand why she was here with the demigods, but she couldn't fully comprehend how it would help them at all. She doubted reading about tragedies was going to make anyone feel better; not after all they'd been though.

'_Oh, be a Gryffindor_,' a voice snapped in her head. '_You have to be strong now. Don't cry. Just stop_.'

Ginny hadn't even realized she was crying at all. She sat up and brushed the tears out of her eyes. She was nearly seventeen, and for a witch of her age, she had seen more than she'd liked, experienced horrors that most never went through. Something told her the Greeks had it worse and she pitied them. At this moment, in this place, they were no older than her.

"Ginny?" Hermione's voice came from outside the door. "We're continuing the book."

Ginny cleared her throat. "I'll be right down. One minute please."

Ginny walked up to the mirror beside her caramel-colored wardrobe. Her eyes weren't puffy, thankfully, and she didn't look like she had been crying much, though there was a small red tinge on the rims of her eyelids. She took a deep breath, counted to ten, exhaled, and walked briskly out of the room.

As she walked into the hall, she glanced out of the window. Then she came to an abrupt halt. For a moment she could have sworn she'd seen someone outside, standing near the edge of the lawn by the lake. Startled, she looked out again, but there was no one out there, just a burnt tree that could pass for a human figure at a distance. She sighed and mentally scolded herself for panicking and walked down the hall towards the common room. That way she didn't see the 'tree' morph into a woman and disappear.

* * *

Everyone else had already gathered in the Guest Common Room. The Stolls were laughing at two people standing by a table at the other end of the room. Rachel, Grover, Luna, Perce, George, and Neville had all taken their seats again, but Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Hermione were surrounding the two people by the table: Thalia and Ron. The two of them were arm-wrestling. Ron was losing badly. Thalia was grinning triumphantly while Ron's face turned as red as his hair. Just as Ginny joined the group, Thalia slammed Ron's arm down and laughed.

"Ha! That's ten for me, zero for you!" she said triumphantly.

"How are you so strong?" Ron asked, his voice in awe rather than anger.

"It's a gift," Thalia said, not adding 'from Artemis' to the sentence. She didn't want them to know she was a hunter yet.

"Can we start reading yet?" Conner asked. "It's my turn."

"A _Stoll_ asking to read?" Grover joked mockingly. "Pinch me, I'm dreaming."

As Percy sat down next to Grover, he reached out his hand and pinched his arm hard.

"OW!" Grover yelped, yanking his arm away from Percy. "Not literally, man!"

"Sorry," Percy chuckled.

As the others took their seats, Conner opened up the book. Ginny sat next to Harry like she had for the first few chapters and when her shoulder grazed his, he flinched slightly. Ginny frowned. Was something wrong with her sitting with him?

"**Chapter Seven: My Dinner Goes up in Smoke**," Conner read. "Don't they always."

"And it's not just dinner," Travis added. "It's breakfast and lunch too."

"What?" yelped Ron.

"It'll be explained, Ron," Hermione said gently, taking his hand with an amused expression on her face.

"Why would someone burn food?" he asked, disgusted. "That's a waste of food!"

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"Again, thank you," Annabeth said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry," Percy said gently, kissing her hair.

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),**

"Goat-man! Aw, come on!" Grover almost yelled, glaring at Percy. "That is the god, Pan!"

"Grover, again, I wasn't familiar with everything," Percy sighed. "What was I supposed to think?"

Grover sighed. "At least it wasn't '_Goat-boy_'."

Everyone laughed.

**and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"I wouldn't go on that, even if you paid me," Harry said, his eyes wide.

"What if one of us is trapped at the top?" Ron asked, keeping a straight face.

Harry realized he was caught. "Damn it!" he said, shaking his head as everyone else laughed at him.

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

**"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

**"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

**"Whatever."**

**"It wasn't my fault."**

"Did you seriously just say that?" Thalia asked in disbelief.

"Yes, yes he did," Annabeth replied for Percy.

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

Everyone snorted with laughter. George smiled weakly, but the break seemed to have sapped out his amusement from the previous chapter. Along with brooding over Fred's death for the entire break, he wasn't really paying attention anymore. He just wanted to go and sleep.

**"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

**"Who?"**

**"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hermione said, holding up her hands. "The Oracle? Rachel, didn't you say you were the Oracle when we were all introduced?"

Rachel smiled at her. "I wasn't the Oracle at that point. I didn't know any of this yet. They're talking about the old Oracle."

'_Emphasis on old_,' the demigods thought together.

"But wouldn't the old Oracle be a person too?" Hermione asked. "I mean, you're a person, so I simply assumed."

Annabeth and Rachel exchanged a short glance. "The Oracle is the servant of Apollo. Its spirit resides in the body of a maiden. The last Oracle... let's just say she had a rough time. She was no longer the person she once was."

"Why not?" Luna asked curiously.

"Something to do with my Dad," Nico said. "Let's leave it at that."

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

"Don't I know how that feels," Harry groaned, resting his head back on the couch. "You can ask questions all the time, but it's never the straight answer unless it's really desperate times."

"Exactly," Percy said. "And the worse part is where, when you don't have the right facts, you end up doing something crazy and stupid. I know from experience."

"You too?" Harry asked, leaning forward. "You have no idea how many times that happened to me. More than I can count."

"Me too," Percy said, shaking his head.

What Harry and Percy failed to realize were the looks they were receiving from their friends. Though they were all worried, there was some amusement in their expressions. These two had similar personalities from what they said and how each group referred to their characteristics.

The Greeks found that the Brits were comparing the two up to the point where you'd think they were twins or something. So far from what the Brits had read, Percy was definitely a younger, more outgoing, version of Harry. They understood each other, though they really didn't know each other at all. Harry and Percy were oblivious to this. They were just glad that someone understood on the same level, rather than relating how they felt to others who weren't in the same position.

"Some of the worse mistakes in my life were from lack of information," Harry sighed. "If we have to read about my life, then you'll see for yourself."

"Let's just see if we live through my life first," Percy said, smiling slightly.

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below.**

"Huh?" Ron said.

"Water nymphs," Percy said. "Or naiads. They're quite friendly."

"To you," Annabeth grumbled. "My sister, Sabrina, can't go near the lake without them attacking her with water."

"She shouldn't have insulted them then," Percy shrugged, knowing how mean the naiads could be when offended.

**They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

**"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

**"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

"You wanted to go near Smelly Gabe?" Nico asked, disgusted.

"When you put it that way, no, I don't want to go home," Percy said, shaking his head.

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

**"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

The Greeks laughed. The Brits only smiled.

"We're not mentally disturbed," Thalia protested with a smile. "Just complicated."

More laughter.

**"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

**"Half-human and half-what?"**

"Seriously?" Thalia exclaimed, rolling her eyes at Percy. "How thick are you? You've just found out about the _gods_ and you've met Clarisse, daughter of the _War god_, and you don't pick up the word '_god_' as the keyword here?"

"Well, excuse me for still not believing it all yet," Percy grumbled while the others snickered.

**"I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

**"God," I said. "Half-god."**

"FINALLY!" Thalia yelled, raising her hands to the ceiling. "There's still hope!"

"Shut up!" Percy said, flushing red. "Give me a break!"

That didn't stop the others from laughing. It took a whole five minutes before Conner could continue.

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

**"That's ... crazy."**

Thalia made to say something but Percy cut her off.

"_If you so much as say anything about that, Artemis will be ONE hunter down!_" he snapped in Greek. Thalia smirked but obliged.

**"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"No," the demigods said, thinking about the campers they had at camp. There must have been more than two hundred by now...

**"But those are just—" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.**

"But a good one," Travis added at the end of Conner's sentence, making Percy smile.

**"But if all the kids here are half-gods—"**

**"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

**"Then who's your dad?"**

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"You did," Annabeth said, looking at him.

"Sorry," Percy apologized.

"You didn't know," Annabeth said, brushing it aside.

**"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

**"He's human."**

**"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"I didn't mean it like that," Percy sighed. "I wasn't really thinking of the goddesses."

"Well, now you know," Nico said.

**"Who's your mom, then?"**

**"Cabin six."**

**"Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Percy who held up his hands.

"In my defense, I still had a hard time processing this," he said. "You know it only took a couple of days before I started to get the gist of things."

"Is there something _wrong_ with me being a daughter of Athena?" Annabeth asked testily, folding her arms.

"No," Percy said quickly, shaking his head and his face turning pink. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't."

"And we all know how much he _loves_ you," Nico stepped in, grinning. Annabeth blushed and the comment and waved Conner to continue.

'_Thank you_,' Percy mouthed to him when Annabeth wasn't looking. Nico gave him a look that said, '_No problem_.'

"Reminds me of Ron and Hermione," Neville whispered to George and Perce, who grinned at him.

**"And my dad?"**

**"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

"Hey, now that you've said that," Ron said, pinching his ear nonchalantly. "Do you think we can know now? Who you Dad is?"

"Um, no," Percy said, grinning.

"Aw, come on!" Ron begged. "It's killing me!"

"No, it's not," Nico said, grinning at him. For a moment, his face was normal, but then he leaned into the shadow and suddenly his skin was slightly transparent so you could see his skull.

"Ah!" Ron said, leaping back in alarm. "Don't do that!"

Nico laughed. "That reaction proves that you are far from dying. Continue, Conner."

Conner nodded, having had that trick used on him before. It was darn freaky.

"Was that necessary?" Ron asked, rubbing his chest as Harry and Hermione laughed away.

**"Except my mother. She knew."**

**"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

**"My dad would have. He loved her."**

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.**

"She did know," Percy said.

"That's still rare though," Thalia said. "The gods don't tell their mortal lovers their identity often. Most of the time it's only to the clear-sighted or someone who they love really deeply."

"Clear-sighted?" Hermione asked.

"A mortal who can see through the Mist, like me," Rachel said. "The Mist always fools mortals and bends reality, but there are some of us who can't be fooled. I'll explain more later."

"Oh, okay."

**"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."**

**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

'_Not anymore_,' Percy thought. '_Not since the Oath_.'

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

"Harsh," Ron commented.

"It's the truth," Annabeth said. "They're always too busy."

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding schools by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.**

"Lots have changed since then, huh?" Travis asked.

"At least they acknowledge us now," Nico added. The other demigods nodded in agreement.

The Brits looked at them sadly. It must be horrible to have parents who barely took any notice to you. The Weasley kids knew what that was like. They were all loved equally, but there were so many of them, and since their mother was always busy in the house and their father at work, they didn't get too much attention, but still valued it when they did. At least they had each other. That mattered.

**"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

**"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year.**

"Not true," Thalia said. "You'd be surprised how powerful children of Demeter are. They're decent fighters, but they can really grow deadly agriculture. I saw Jeremy strangle monsters with vines, ripping them apart too. Even Katie and Laura-Lee have that ability. Jamaica and Julia were hunted by a ton of monsters before they got to camp too. They are daughters of an elder goddess after all. Even the Aphrodite cabin has good fighters, like Alexander. Oh, he was a good one. And Drew is a charmspeaker. You'd be surprised by what she can do, even if she's a little shallow and vain. She's still hard to ignore. You wouldn't believe the number of monsters that went after her and left her siblings alone."

"I guess I take it back," Annabeth said, shaking her head.

**But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble — about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off.**

"And this is considered normal?" Ron asked, his jaw dropping.

"Yep," Nico said. "After Camp Half-Blood, you wouldn't believe how many monsters came after me! That's why I started using that defense mechanism that Percy and Harry saw earlier. Monsters hate that. They're terrified of the _Aura of Death_, so they keep a distance. Only the really stupid ones challenge me."

"And how old were the rest of you?" Luna asked, her eyes wide.

"Um, seven," Annabeth said.

"Twelve," said Percy. "Officially at least. I'm not sure if any came before, though I think they did."

"Eight," Thalia said.

"Nine," Travis said as Conner said, "Eight."

"Monsters never came after me, I'm just a mortal," Rachel said. "But when I'm around these guys, they tend to hunt me too."

"I'm a satyr, we're basically their food, like demigods," Grover said. "So, that would be...fourteen for me?"

It seemed as though the Brits had dropped their jaws permanently. After two minutes and no change, Conner continued reading to spare them.

**A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

"Like who?" Rachel asked.

Annabeth thought about it for a minute. "George Washington, son of Athena;" — Harry and Hermione looked shocked — "Amelia Earhart, daughter of Zeus;" — If it was possible for Hermione's eyes to get any wider, they did — "Franklin Roosevelt, son of Zeus; Winston Churchill, son of Poseidon; Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes; Christopher Columbus, son of Poseidon; Nicolas Flamel, son of Hecate—"

"Wait, wait!" Harry said, finding his voice. "Say what?"

"Nicolas Flamel was a _demigod_?" Ron asked, his jaw dropping even lower.

"Yes," Annabeth said, confused.

"Nicolas Flamel is a _wizard_!" Hermione gasped.

Silence.

"Well, this is awkward," Nico said slowly, his eyes wide.

"That's probably why he's lived so long," Ron gaped. "His mother's powers combined with his wizard powers to create—"

"—it! You may be right," Hermione said, thinking hard. "It's just too—"

"—Bizarre," Harry said, his eyes distant as he looked at this friends.

The Greeks stared at the Golden Trio, a little unnerved.

Travis leaned down and whispered in Conner's ear, "They're scaring me."

Conner nodded and continued to read, wanting to change the atmosphere.

**"So monsters can't get in here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

**"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

**"Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

**"Practical jokes?"**

"Yeah," The Stolls sighed happily. They got the others back into the story, but Harry, Ron and Hermione were in their own world now.

**"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

"How's that? Magic?" Neville asked.

"It's called the Mist," Rachel explained. "There are some things that mortals can't explain or understand. The Mist is basically a shield to protect anything abnormal or supernatural. It completely fools mortals. They don't see things the way they are. The Mist can even change memories. It does anything to make sure any unusual situation as a logical explanation — or as close to logical as it can be. That's how everyone at Yancy thought Mrs. Kerr was their teacher. The Mist erased their memories of Mrs. Dodds, so they thought it was Mrs. Kerr all along."

"Wow," Neville gaped.

"Wouldn't the Obliviators love that," Perce murmured to George who smiled weakly in response.

**"So ... you're a year-rounder?"**

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

**"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."**

**"Why did you come so young?"**

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"You don't have to be so rude," Nico commented, earning a glare from Annabeth. He didn't flinch. He'd seen worse from his father.

**"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

**"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."**

**"Unless?"**

**"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..." Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

"Maybe if it had, things would have gone differently," Percy sighed.

"You can't change fate," Rachel said sadly. "No matter how hard you try."

**"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff -"**

**"Ambrosia."**

**"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know some thing?"**

**"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists.**

**"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."**

"You've been to Olympus?" Neville asked. All the Greeks nodded.

**"You've been to Olympus?"**

"Wow, Neville," Ginny teased, patting him on the back. He blushed in embarrassment.

**"Some of us year-rounders — Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others — we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

"On the darkest day of the year," Nico noted.

"Why is that?" Ginny asked.

"It's the only day my dad is allowed up there," Nico explained.

"That's a little harsh," she said, frowning.

"My dad's not a popular guy."

**"But... how did you get there?"**

**"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"**

"Yes, but I was a New Yorker who didn't know any of this yet," Percy grumbled. "Really, Annabeth?"

"Sorry," Annabeth said, blushing. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and he stopped scowling.

**"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

"And all I knew about it so far," Percy said, still miffed.

"You should have let him see the orientation film," Nico sighed. "It's all on that!"

"Really?" Percy asked, and Nico nodded. He turned to Annabeth. "Is that why you thought I should know it already?"

Annabeth nodded sheepishly. "Chiron usually shows the new ones the film before taking them around camp. I had assumed he had done the same with you, so I thought you were a little dense not remembering."

"Oh," Percy turned pink. "Sorry for snapping at you."

"It's okay." She gave him another kiss.

"Oh, enough before I puke," Conner complained as he turned towards the book.

**"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean — Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon.**

Annabeth and Percy shared an amused look.

**But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

**"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to her self. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem..."**

"And now that you know the problem?" Thalia asked in a teasing voice.

"What was I thinking?" Annabeth laughed. Everyone else laughed along with her.

"What's the joke?"

Everyone turned their heads to see the Golden Trio staring at them with a bemused expression on their faces.

"Look who's back from _Brooding-Ville_," Ginny teased.

"Very funny, Ginny," Ron grumbled. "How much did we miss?"

As Perce explained to them what had happened so far, Ginny decided to explain to the Greeks what was going on.

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione are best friends. They stick together for everything, though they do have their falling outs. When it comes to a mystery, they'll go to any lengths to solve it, if you get my drift," Ginny said. Harry gently nudged her in the ribs, making her laugh. "I suppose you said something earlier than sent them into their brooding mode."

"It's not a brooding mode," Harry protested, looking down at her.

"It always looked like that to me," she said, looking up at with with determination in her eyes.

Staring into his eyes, she felt an ache in her chest that wouldn't leave. The green pierced the brown with such intensity that Nico, Conner, Travis, Neville, Ron, Perce, Grover, Percy, and George all looked away, embarrassed. Harry felt heat creep up around his neck as his eyes momentarily fell to her lips. Realizing where his thoughts were headed, he looked away from her and moved closer to Ron, staring at the floor intensively.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the carpet fibers.

"No, I suppose it doesn't," Ginny said softly, looking at him sadly.

The room had gone silent. The Greeks exchanged nervous glances. Ron glared at the fireplace, Hermione glared at Ron, while the other British wizards tried to focus on anything else.

"Conner, read," Percy ordered firmly, feeling uncomfortable in the new atmosphere. Conner didn't hesitate to comply.

'_Is something going on between them?_' Annabeth mouthed to Hermione.

'_Yes,_' Hermione mouthed in replied. '_I'll explain later_.'

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

Annabeth slapped Percy on the shoulder. "Stop being observant!"

Percy gave her a sloppy grin and saluted. "Yes, ma'am." The others in the room smirked at him.

Harry and Ginny weren't focusing on the story at the moment. They were thinking about each other, though they didn't show it.

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles.**

Everyone glanced at the Stolls who fit the description. The others who resembled would also be Hermes' children.

**They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn. The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

Conner grumbled a little before continuing. He had loved Luke until the betrayal. He still had a hard time forgiving him, just like Travis and Bette.

**"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

"He wasn't," Travis sighed. "We helped distract Argus so he could get in there."

**I said, "Thanks."**

**"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

**"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

"That changed," Percy sighed.

"For all of us," Rachel nodded.

**"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

"In some cases, it gets harder," Nico whispered. Thalia heard him and nodded.

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

"And sometimes it's not well," Thalia muttered.

**"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

"You thought he would gut you?" Conner asked. "He wouldn't be that stupid."

"Yeah, with people watching?" Travis added in a tone that made you wonder if he was joking or not. Obviously it fooled the Brits because they thought he was kidding.

**"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"I'm sure Dad loved that description," The Stolls laughed.

**"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.**

**"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

**"Once."**

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had any thing to do with how he got his scar.**

"Did it?" Neville asked.

"I don't think so," Luna pondered aloud. "It might be connected though..."

"Well, it wasn't when he got it, but Luna's right. They're connected," Percy stated. He didn't know what to make of Luna just yet, but she tended to get the facts right when she didn't interrupt often. She was pretty smart.

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

"Um, Percy, Annabeth, you two are demigods, right?" Ron asked. They nodded. "And your dating? That kind of reminds me of pureblood families where members date each other."

"That's easy to explain," Nico said before Annabeth could. "Harry, do you remember when Percy told you I was his cousin, but not exactly?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, the gods themselves don't have DNA," Nico explained. "Mortals have your basic blood types, but gods have ichor, a golden ethereal fluid. It doesn't connect them biologically. Only by title are they related. Like Zeus is the father of Athena, but their blood doesn't characterize them so. Only the fact that Zeus fathered her proves that she is his daughter. It goes like that to demigods. One god can have many children with different women, and because they are all fathered by him, they are his children and each other's half-siblings, but not by blood."

"That sounds wrong," Ron commented, but Nico was still talking.

"We have our mortal parent's DNA, not the godly side because they don't have DNA themselves." Nico took a deep breath and continued. "If your mortal parents aren't related, then you aren't related by blood, just by title. Percy's related to Annabeth's mother Athena, but not Annabeth herself. It's a strange sort of thing, actually."

Nico frowned, like he was remembering something he didn't like. "Once you don't have the same godly parent, and your mortal parents aren't related, technically, you aren't related either. I guess to some people, it qualifies as incest, but that's not it. If two kids of Demeter or two kids of Aphrodite dated each other, then that's incest. But Percy and Annabeth's relationship isn't."

He paused to let that sink in with the wizards. Annabeth frowned as Nico's eyes turned distance. Not spacing out like before, but as if he were looking at a memory.

Nico took a deep sip of his drink and started talking again. "I really don't like this subject of the family tree, especially how my father is married to his younger brother and older sister's daughter."

"I'm sorry, what?" Harry asked, staring at Nico in surprise, but Nico didn't seem to hear him.

"Demeter drives me crazy with it. It was horrible to be in the Underworld that day: '_Kore, I still can't believe you took this worthless and disgusting bit of filth for a husband! My brother isn't worthy of you!_'" Nico said this in a very convincing imitation of Demeter.

Then he changed his voice to suit Persephone. "'_Mother, I'm tired to explaining this to you! I — love — him!_'" Nico rolled his eyes at this point.

Then he reverted back to Demeter. "'_Love? He doesn't even know the meaning of the word, not even if Aphrodite herself explained!_'"

Then he changed his voice to a velvety deep voice. "'_Demeter, you do realize I am standing right here?_'"

Then he changed his voice back to Demeter. "'_Oh, silence Hades! Why don't you go back to caring for that spawn you reared with that mortal woman!_'" Nico looked like someone had slapped him as he repeated those words. He had hated Demeter for speaking about his mother that way.

"Nico, stop!" Thalia ordered, grabbing his arm. Nico had gone red just mimicking his relatives. "Calm down!"

Nico took a deep breath and sat back in the couch. He was trembling as he remembered that conversation. He had decided to bring up the battle that was going on in Manhattan like Percy had told him to just to get them to stop. Being around those three had definitely traumatized him for life.

"Every time they're together," he sighed, wanting to cry but refusing to show that weakness. His voice was hollow and monotone. "It's the same thing! Over and over and over..."

Everyone was staring at Nico with their mouths open. The Greek had heard rumors of the infamous arguments between Persephone, Hades, and Demeter, but to witness one — they didn't envy him. Percy remembered the small bit he and Nico had walked in on before when he was in the Underworld, but he didn't realize that Nico had witnessed so much more. No wonder he liked to be isolated. They scarred him to the point where he didn't want to be around people and only craved the peace and quiet.

Thalia caught on to Nico's stricken expression, and though she didn't like touching guys very much, she consented to put her arm around Nico's shoulder and let him rest his head on hers. If it had been anyone else (except Percy) she would never have made the exception, but he looked like he needed it.

"You guys understand?" she asked the Brits who nodded, stunned. She nodded at Conner to continue. Conner nodded. His face was tinged with green now. Grover felt the anxiety in the room and sighed.

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him — even if he was a counselor - should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me.**

"You're not uncool," Luna stated.

"Thank you, Luna," Percy said appreciatively.

**But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

"_And it was all an act_," Travis grumbled in Greek.

"Travis," Annabeth said.

"I know, I know!"

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

"Who doesn't?" Harry asked, meaning to be rhetorical.

"Trelawney," Ron grumbled.

"Oh. Right."

**"What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until...somebody special came to the camp."**

**"Somebody special?"**

**"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

"Why were you so desperate anyway?" Thalia asked. "Didn't you know the risks of taking up a Quest?"

Annabeth sighed and nodded. "I knew. But...I wanted to prove to myself that I could take on these tasks, and pull them off too. With everything that went on when I was younger, I justed wanted people to stop viewing me as '_Little Annie_.' When my fighting skills got better, than nickname went out, but still, they didn't think I could do any sort of quest. I wanted to prove them wrong."

"Who's '_they_'?" Hermione asked.

"Sabrina. Malcolm. A few of my other siblings. Even Luke," Annabeth sighed again. "I was a little girl in their eyes. I'd heard of quests, the successful ones the most, and I just wanted a shot at it. They didn't believe I could handle it."

"They don't say that now," Thalia said, reaching over and slapping her hand. "You proved that you could."

"Yeah," she said, perking up. "But they warned me of the dangers, and I thought I could handle them. When I had to face them on the other hand, I freaked out. It took a lot for me not to show it most of time. I guess my earlier dangers had faded more in memory. They got a lot worse."

"Dangers? With monsters?" Neville asked. Annabeth nodded. "Does it ever get easier?"

"Sometimes," Annabeth said. "Other times, you wonder how to live to the next day."

Her words were met with silence. The demigods knew where she was coming from, and the wizards and witches did too. Harry, Ron, and Hermione remembered all they had to do to keep safe. So many precautions. They didn't know where they'd be every few hours and minutes, and the smallest mistake...well, they proved the future was unpredictable.

"I'm continuing, if you guys don't mind," said Conner, returning to the book.

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.**

"Really? You knew it was a conch shell?" Hermione asked. A conch shell came from the sea. Keyword: Sea. Add '_water_', '_beach_' and other water-based references, she was starting to become positive it was Poseidon. Harry was thinking along the same lines.

Percy nodded at her question. "Yep."

"Do you know how?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, you say you'd very heard it before, but you know what it was," Harry added.

Percy looked at the two of them suspicious. Harry caught his eye and pretended to cough, hiding his mouth from the other wizards as he quickly mouthed '_Poseidon_' to him. Percy suppressed a grin and gave him the tiniest nod.

"Why do you think that was?" Percy asked, keeping his voice casual.

"I guess we'll have to read and see," Harry said, keeping up the act. He exchanged a confirmation glance with Hermione who was pleased that they figured out who Percy's father was. The only other people who caught the silent and quick exchange was Annabeth (she was impressed), Thalia (she was amused), Rachel (she was curious), and Ron (he was slightly confused). Ron could tell his friends had figured something out without him. Again. As annoying as that was, he didn't mind to much.

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard.**

"There's not as much now," Travis said proudly. He winked at Percy who smirked back.

"Yeah, but now we have siblings who are reaching that number," Conner added. "The unclaimed number is much smaller."

"You two almost have twenty siblings?" Ron asked, his jaw dropped.

Travis and Conner nodded earnestly.

"And I thought the Weasleys had too many children," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"Yeah well, most of us don't have the same mother," Travis said, rolling his eyes.

"Doesn't your father have anything better to do?" Ron asked, looking green. "I mean... that's just too much for — for one guy..."

"You think that's bad?" Nico asked, smirking. "Apollo has more children in his cabin than Hermes, and some children in the Hermes cabin are unclaimed."

"Do male gods have any dignity?" George yelped, gaping at them.

"Yeah, but Apollo is the god of bachelors," Nico said. "He's a real womanizer."

Hermione, Ginny and Luna exchanged careful looks. "Remind us never to meet him," Ginny said. Ron and Harry instantly scowled at the thought of Hermione or Ginny meeting Apollo. Heck, all the guys did.

"Don't worry," Thalia said, smiling. "Apollo wouldn't go after women who are already taken, unless they're desperate. Hermione and Ginny are perfectly safe. Luna? Well, he usually avoids women with gray eyes like hers. They remind him of Athena, and he's a little scared of her. Artemis told me once."

This made everyone but Ron, George, and Percy Weasley laugh. They all eyed Ginny suspiciously.

"What'd you mean about Ginny?" Ron asked. "She isn't with anyone... Is she? Did I miss something?"

The women rolled their eyes. Hermione went to the dinning cart and took up a cheese sandwich. "No, Ron," she said, sweetly. "You didn't miss anything."

Ron frowned. "Hey, look I'd be happy if Ginny went nowhere near Polly—"

"Apollo," Nico corrected, snickering. Rachel looked scandalized that he got her Patron's name wrong, even though she understood why.

"—whatever. As far as I know, Ginny has no interest in anyone."

"Right," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She kissed Ron on the cheek, distracting him for a moment before tossed the sandwich on the floor, right between Harry and Ginny. "Oops," she said. "Could you pick that up? I wouldn't want to carpet to get dirty."

But she didn't specify who she had been talking to. Harry and Ginny both swooped down to pick up the sandwich and they're heads banged against each other. The Stolls snickered at the sight, but said nothing under Thalia's glare. She had noticed for Harry had acted towards Ginny when he said he had needed water and had suspected that they liked each other. That's why she had brought it up. She wanted to see whether she was right or not.

"Ow!" the two ex's said. They met each other's eyes and blushed crimson red.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly. "I-I thought she was talking to me."

"No. No, it's okay," Ginny said, waving her hand as if dismissing it, but her blush grew darker. "I thought she was talking to me, too."

The two of them stared at each other, turning darker red before reverting their eyes. Harry's gaze became determined and embarrassed while Ginny's seemed embarrassed and sad, though both their faces were blank. Well, that proved something was still there between them, and everyone saw it — except Ron.

George and Perce realized that Harry was the one who still held their sister's heart and relaxed. They trusted Harry, and they knew the reasons behind the break-up. They were selfless actions, and had no objects if the two got back together. Ron, on the other hand, didn't get it.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, confused.

"Nothing, nothing," Hermione said, kissing him again.

Luna reached out and picked up the sandwich before vanishing it. Everyone, and that included the non-romantics like the Stolls, Thalia, and Nico, had seen the small connection between _Miss Wildfire_ and _Mr. Chosen One_, but the guy with the girlfriend was clueless. [Oh, the irony...]

**We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

"Artemis's cabin," Thalia said proudly.

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods — and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

"Whoa," Ron said, his eyes as wide as galleons. "Who are they?"

"Dryads," Grover replied dreamily, thinking of Juniper.

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

"That must have been uncomfortable," Neville said, grimacing. At least at Hogwarts there was a lot of room on the benches.

"I'd say," Percy, Conner and Travis sighed.

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

"Mr. D has kids?" Ginny asked, startled.

"Yeah, those who were just mentioned are Pollux and Castor," Nico said, frowning when he remembered that Castor was dead. He had been cool to hang out with. "Why is that such a shock?"

"I thought he hated demigods," Neville said.

"He does, but not his children," Nico said. "It's sort of hypocritical."

"Sort of? What woman would want to be with him?" Ginny asked. "He's rude, he's sarcastic, he's grumpy—"

"He's an older version of Ron," George said lightly.

Everyone snorted.

"HEY!" Ron snapped, but he was grinning, overjoyed that his brother had made a joke, even if it offended him.

"That makes you wonder what's wrong with Hermione," Ginny giggled, earning a slap on the shoulder from the said girl.

"Well, we know there was something wrong with Lavender," Harry whispered to her, and she fell into silent giggles, burying her face in his sleeve. That made Harry smile.

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.**

"I never got that," Conner said.

"Got what?" Perce asked.

"Why all of Athena's children are blond," he said. "Athena isn't blond."

"Most of us have blond fathers," Annabeth explained.

"Athena's into blonds?" Conner snickered.

"Oh, forget it," Annabeth groaned. Why did he and Travis have to be so dense? Were they naturally that way or doing it on purpose? Hermes was one of the intelligent gods after all. Why would he have dumb kids?

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares' table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

"Mum would have gone all saber-tooth if they did that at the Burrow," Ron laughed, causing Ginny, George, and Perce to laugh too.

"What?" Percy asked, confused.

"Mum would flay us if we ever lost our manners at the table," Ginny explained.

"It makes you wonder how Ron is alive," George muttered, a small smile on his face.

This made his friends happy as they laughed at his joke. It was slow, but he was improving. Baby steps...

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."**

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

"Cool," Harry, Neville, and Ron said.

"I would take pumpkin juice," Neville said after a thought.

"Nah, it'd be butterbeer," Harry said. Ron nodded it agreement.

"Pumpkin juice and butterbeer?" Travis asked. 'Beer', he could handle, but not with butter. And pumpkin juice?_ Yuck!_

"It's not what you think," Luna said earnestly. "Pumpkin juice is rather sweet and tasty. It consists of pumpkins, apples, pineapples, honey, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. It's one of my favorites. And the butterbeer isn't butter _and_ beer. I could tell that's what you were thinking." Travis blushed because he knew she was right. "It does have a _little_ butter in it, but it also contains butterscotch syrup and cream soda."

The Stolls considered it. "It doesn't sound bad," Travis admitted.

Luna smiled. "I know how to make them. My mother used to do so on special occasions. I could show you later."

"Sure," the Stolls said eagerly, smiling, not evilly like they usually did, but nicely.

The Greeks were grinning at Luna. The Stolls were adventurous eaters, but they never took what other people gave them so readily unless they trusted them. They must trust Luna for some reason. Maybe it was the honesty in her voice. It was open and friendly.

Little did they know that the Stolls answered better to that behavior. Their evil and mischievous looks just made you jump to defensive before you gave them a proper chance to show off the sort of people they really were.

**Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."**

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. I took a cautious sip. Perfect. I drank a toast to my mother.**

"Aw," the girls, except Thalia and Luna, cooed. The other two simply smiled at the words.

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday...**

"You're kidding me," Nico said, his dark eyes wide. "You're not going to see my dad, are you?"

Percy didn't answer him, making Nico groan.

**"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

"It just said they were going to the fire, and you're wondering if it was for dessert?" Perce asked, staring at Percy. "Is it a Greek tradition to have your dessert in a fire?"

Percy blushed. "No, that would be a stupid trad — wait a minute!" He noticed everyone laughing silently at him.

Percy Jackson blushed darker when he realized Percy Weasley was just messing with him. George's eyes shone with a little pride at the changes in his pompous brother.

**"Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

Ron's stomach decided to make an entrance and growled. Embarrassed at the amused looks he was getting, Ron reached out and took up a few sandwiches from the dining cart.

"I guess that's what you meant about breakfast, lunch and dinner going up in smoke," he said as he shoved a sandwich into his mouth.

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

"You're kidding," Harry said. Conner chuckled as he read the next line.

**"You're kidding."**

"Who's talking here, Harry or Percy?" Thalia and Ginny giggled. The two guys blushed.

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

'_I'm wondering that too_,' Harry thought.

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

**I was next. I wished I knew what god's name to say. Finally, I made a silent plea. _Whoever you are, tell me. Please._**

'_It didn't have to be so public, Dad_,' Percy thought to himself as he remembered his Claiming.

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames. When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

"Maybe," Annabeth said after a thought. "Gods don't need to eat often, but they need to drink to stay hydrated. If they only drink and take in the smell, they could live pretty well, but they won't be as strong."

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

**"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

"What?" the Brits asked.

"Is he talking about Percy?" George asked. Percy nodded.

"Mr. D had an annoying habit of calling demigods by the wrong names," Annabeth explained. "Percy is called 'Peter', 'Perry', 'Pierce', 'Pedro' and once he called him 'Paris'."

"Worse time of my life, that one," Percy said, shaking his head.

The Aphrodite girls had overheard this, and, because Paris and Helen was a popular tale in their cabin, they had knocked him out dressed him us as Paris as a prank. Even the Stolls had given them bows for that. Apparently they remembered because they were roaring now.

**Chiron murmured something.**

**"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

"One of the few times he got your name right," Travis chuckled.

"Shut up, Tamrika!" Percy snapped. Travis turned a blackish-red. Conner burst into hysterical laughter at the girl's name Mr. D had called Travis once. "You too, Caetlina!" Conner turned a darker shade of purple than Travis's blush.

"Nice," Nico said, grinning.

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

'Camp for him, Hogwarts for me,' Harry thought. 'Funny how when you come to a place where people are similar to you, you're more accepted than where you were before.'

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

Everyone smiled sadly at this. Percy smiled a little brighter. He wasn't going to tell them she still did this, minus the stories.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly. That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"Uh-oh, what happens?" Ginny asked.

"I get Claimed," Percy said in Greek. Then he said in English. "A major part of my life."

"Who goes next?" Conner asked, holding up the book. "Chapter's done."

"I'm next," Travis said taking the book from him.

"How many more chapters do you think we should read?" Hermione asked. "I know we can't read all day. Besides, it would give us a chance to explore this house."

Annabeth nodded. "That's a good point. Maybe two more, and we're done for the day. Take the rest to look around. It's not like we have a time limit. It did say that we could stay here for a long period of time, but only seconds would really pass."

"Okay then," Ginny nodded. "Two more chapters. That means Travis and... who reads after him?"

"Me," Perce volunteered.

"Okay, they will read." Ginny took a deep breath. "How many chapters are in this book, anyway?"

Rachel held out her hand to Travis for the book and he handed it over willing. She checked the chapter list. "Hm. It has twenty two chapters. So far we've read seven. Two more would mean nine."

"That means tomorrow we could finish the rest or hold a limit?" Thalia asked.

Hermione gave it some thought. "If we read all, that would be thirteen more chapters. That's a little much for Ron and Harry."

"Hey!" protested Harry and Ron. The two guys pouted and glared at her.

"Maybe we can read nine, and leave the rest for the next day?" Hermione suggested, ignoring her friends' outbursts. "Nine chapters a day."

"Unless we really want to knows what happens?" Travis inputted.

"We'll see," Annabeth said before smiling at Hermione. "It sounds like a plan."

"And we all know how Athena likes plans," Percy teased. Annabeth picked up a cushion and swatted him over the head with it. Laughing, he picked up another and playfully hit her back.

"Oh brother!" Thalia groaned.

"You could say that again," Nico said, grinning like Cheshire.

"What are you grinning at?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Nico said, his voice challenging.

Grover felt the tension in the air. "Oh no."

"Run!" The Stolls yelled before grabbing up cushions of their own to begin hitting each other. Grover and Rachel dived for cover like Perce and Luna while everyone else began playing pillow fight, with Hermione trying to calm them down.

"Guys! Guys! _Stop!_ STOP!" Hermione cried out, almost getting hit by Thalia and Nico.

"Ah!" Ginny screamed as George whacked her on the head with a cushion, grinning more than he had all week.

"Oh, it's going to be like that?" she challenged, picking up a cushion of her own. "So be it!"

* * *

Outside the Manor, the person Ginny had seen walked towards the window, magically concealing herself so that no one inside would see her. She listened into their conversation and laughed quietly when she say them playing with her cushions. She could always repair them later when she saw the Stoll brother rip two of them on each other's heads. If only they knew how connected their worlds were, and how much more complicated it would get.

"_Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love. I hold you dear, my brightest dove! Oh, can you see it?_" she hummed softly to herself. "_Oh prince, thou hath stolen me away. Yet ye can never tame your lover as captive_..."

"Come now, Guide," she heard a voice speak in her head. "No spoilers."

Smiling to herself, Guide wandered away from the Manor and walked over to that golden haired, handsome young man who looked like a male model. He was standing by the purple-blue sea, a smile on his face. He took off his sunglasses and stared down at her with his sky-blue jeweled eyes.

"Phoebus Apollo," she greeted him. Her voice was a soft and sweet pur than ran chills down his spine. "It has been many years since we spoke face-to-face," — she smiled sweetly at him — "and you still choose to call me Guide? Most don't do that."

A faint blush colored his chiseled cheeks. "Vena," he purred, blushing as she spoke to him. "You grow more beautiful every time I see you. To bad I couldn't see in that dark library..."

She grinned and disillusioned herself. "I could never hid myself from you. And watch it, _Sun Prince_, I've already told you, no flirting."

Apollo groaned, staring at her with longing. "You _love_ to torture me, don't you?" He said, his voice pleading. She grinned and tiptoed towards him, placed her lips very close to his. He moaned in pleasure at her closeness and them pouted with she pulled away, grinning like Cheshire.

"Of course I do," she said sweetly. Under her hood, you couldn't see her face or her head and she wore all black, but Apollo knew what she really looked like. He was in love. She was the only girl who never fell for his charm on first sight. "I couldn't have fun any other way."

She glanced back at the house, trying not to break down in laughter from the disappointed look on Apollo's face.

"I hoped to bring them closer, and I know I will succeed," she said. "They will not remember anything of this at the end, but I will give them back their memories in due course of their lives. It is essential that Potter and Jackson unite under these terms. They do not know what's in store in their futures."

"Why won't you tell me?" Apollo asked, his voice soft and compelling, but she was immune.

"All in good time," Vena said, turning back to him. Apollo was staring at her with clear longing in his eyes. He had pursued her ever since he first saw her, only a few years after he took up his throne on Olympus. Yet he never got her, only small teasing and almost kisses. Artemis had always found this amusing. Plus, Vena only ever gave her attention to Hades. She still did, but it was more platonic.

"I heard what they said about me," he said. "_Polly?_"

Vena burst into giggles that sounded like tinkering bells. It warmed Apollo's heart. "Oh yes, I heard that conversation. Womanizer, indeed."

Apollo pouted again. "You're cruel, you know that?"

She smiled at him, and two bright irises gleaming up at him. They were prettier than Aphrodite's: colors swirled in their midsts like nebula, tiny stars dancing in the background. She tiptoed again and grazed her lips on the bridge on his nose.

"I know I am," she whispered, and with that, she was gone.

* * *

**I just made up the part with Christopher Columbus and Nicholas Flamel, but the others I saw on CHB Wiki. Whether it's 'true' or not, I'm not sure, but I used them anyway.**

**I don't know why I decided to give Neville "The Odyssey" but there's no turning back now. I guess he wouldn't have too much trouble understanding Sea of Monsters if he remembers anything.  
**

**I hope no one gets upset by Percy Weasley's thoughts earlier in the chapter. For some reason, I have a feeling he would be suffering through survivor's guilt since he and Fred were dueling together and Fred was the one who died. I gave George his own little part because I felt like I was leaving him out. As for Ginny, well, we're not hearing that much of her, so I decided to add it in. Basically, I'm trying to include their reactions, not just to the story, but keep on with how they are coping with their most recent wars. I don't expect them to be fully happy in a few chapters at all. They are all hurting and I want to keep it realistic, not just some simple fanfic. They are individual characters with thoughts and feelings. I'm going to stick with that for the entire series.  
**

**That is, if I'm able to complete it without the stories being removed. I pray to the gods that I am spared.  
**

**I love all the reviews from you guys for the last chapter. I would write down your usernames like usual, but the list is getting bigger and bigger by the chapter an eventually I'll have to start writing separate chapters just to say thanks. I'm trying to make these notes short, but I'm wordy.  
**

**To answer a few questions:  
**

**lunalovegood0628: Hmm, in the Sea of Monsters, does Percy rescue Blackjack or not. Well, I'm not sure how to answer that correctly. I know that Blackjack was on board the Princess Andromeda when Percy was there and that in The Titan's Curse, Percy says that he helped Blackjack escape. However, in SoM, it does say that the black Pegasus Percy saw at first was a mare, so I know that wasn't Blackjack because he's male. Maybe he escaped when the centaurs rampaged the ship. Working on pure memory here, so I'm sorry if it's a little vague. I just know that Blackjack gave Percy the credit for freeing him.  
**

**Sakra: Feel free to point of the errors I have, amiga. Gods only know how many I have. No matter how many times I go over it, something is always out of place. I'm starting to get used to it, and that is appalling for a straight A English student. :/ As for Nico, well, I couldn't resist. Considering he's a child of Hades, I think he's not used to that sort of attention.  
**

**Ihearttheboywiththebread: I think I explained that in the chapter. Nico's powers are stronger with his emotions and when he finds out what people thought of his dad back then, his emotions will run wild. Apollo had to give him a tonic to keep his powers in check, but it can only work if it is mixed with alcohol. Any other substance and it's useless. I am currently assigning Apollo the task to find a healthier solution because I don't like alcohol near my Nico.  
**

**As for those who are saying not to or to do the sequel series, I was just asking. I think I might, but I'm not too sure about it. I know that when I'm done the series that I'm going to put up the result of it all, and that is after the sequel series is done already. Not just in publishing but in actual time. It might — emphasis on _might_ — be important to include Hazel and Piper and co. but honestly, that's a lot of writing, and I know that with Harry's stories up ahead, my fingers are going to hurt.  
**

**Done with long author's note. Jeez, with every update, each chapter is getting longer. Oh, did I mention I love the first chapter to Mark of Athena? If I didn't, I have now.  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	12. We Capture A Flag

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a week, but you wouldn't believe the school work that the teachers are giving me. They say it's to prepare us for the test _at the end of the term_ and that we're NOT — emphasis on NOT — having _end of term_ test. Does that make sense to you, because it sure doesn't to me.**

**Anyway, I put away a little time to do this bit by bit of the passed week and today is a holiday here so I can finally put it on. Then I have to go finish two I.T. chapters that are due tomorrow, a Social Studies essay and chart, along with 10 questions to answer, a critique on a poem for English B, four essays for English A, some Algebra questions, and a drawing and lab for INTE Science, and 10 art projects for the end of the month. It's not much, I guess, but it's a pain in the neck. I admit, I am no Hermione Granger. More like Percy when deadlines are staring me in the face.**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**We Capture A Flag**

* * *

Vena glided down the vast dark corridor, carefully examining the thirteen doorways standing before her. Just above her head was no ceiling visible to the naked eye; only plain darkness shadowing down on the dark-red carpet she tread upon. The hem of Vena's white dress dragged silently across the floor like smoke. Wisps of color appeared around the edges and left a glowing trail aftermath in its wake.

"Greeks... Romans..." she muttered softly to herself as she slowly passed two doors. "Medieval... Renaissance... Modern..."

She stopped in front of a large double-door entrance made of pure gold. She simply waved her hand and the door opened up for her to enter. She stepped into the dark room and looked around; it had to be two kilometers by width and four kilometers by length in there. Almost every corner of it was occupied with long, tall bookshelves filled with small glass balls in a variety of colors. There wasn't a trace of dust on anything, not even the top shelves.

"Now, which one to choose..." she pondered aloud as she stepped between the two bookshelves in front of her. "One for Thalia?"

* * *

Thalia managed to beat a laughing Nico to the ground. She held her cushion in her hand triumphantly. When she turned away, Nico grabbed her leg and pulled her down on the floor with him. Thalia screamed in surprise as she crashed down on him. Once she realized he was behind her fall, she began to hit hard him with the cushion again.

Ginny and Ron were having their own Cushion War. Ron had the upper hand of behind tall, but Ginny had the advantage of being lithe and strong. She hit him more than he hit ducked and Ron ended up hitting Neville who was busy whacking Harry and Percy. Annabeth was throwing cushions at a giggling Rachel and George was busy with the Stolls. He was actually enjoying himself for the first time in a long time. Perce, Luna and Grover stood the sides, waiting for them all to finish their game.

Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't in the mood for any of this.

"Settle down! Settle down!" Hermione ordered, whipping the cushions out of Ron's, Harry, Ginny's and Neville's hands. "That's enough there!" She added to Annabeth and Rachel. They stopped with good grace and went to peal Thalia off of Nico.

"Aw!" they groaned with Harry being the loudest. They were having fun. Hermione went and pulled George away from the Stolls, a bit upset that she had to stop his fun but annoyed at what it cost them.

"_But Hermione!_" George whined as she gently shoved him back in his own seat.

"No 'buts'!" she said sternly. "Everyone sit down!" They stared at her. "_Sit!_ You can play later."

This was met by a few groans of disappointment, but everyone went back to their respective seats.

"Killjoy," Conner muttered, folding his arms. Hermione glared at him but said nothing.

Travis picked up the book again and cleared his throat. "**Chapter Eight: We Capture a Flag**," he read. "Oh, I remember that game."

"Who doesn't?" Percy groaned. They had reached the part about his claimed.

"Is something wrong, Percy?" Ginny asked, eyeing George suspiciously. He still had a cushion in his hand and he was looking directly at her.

"No," Percy said, shaking his head. "Travis, read."

**The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.**

"How about a centaur, a half-giant, a part goblin, a murderer, a lunatic, and an evil hag?" Ginny asked innocently.

"_What?_" all the Greeks asked in disbelief.

"I believe it will be explained in my books," Harry said, pretending to glare at Ginny who grinned back angelically, causing him to blush.

"A centaur, I can handle," Conner muttered. "The rest, not so much."

"The centaur, half-giant and part goblin are very nice," Luna said in her dreamy. "It's the others you have to watch out for."

_Gulp._

**Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English.**

"It's very easy to read Greek now," Percy smiled.

"Of course, it's trained into you now," Rachel pointed out, still miffed that she had problems understanding Greek. The written courses wasn't hard, but the spoken was a little trickier. Latin came easier, but she wanted to be fluent like the rest of them.

**After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.**

"What's Homer?" Ron asked.

"Not what, who. He was the author of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_," Annabeth explained, "and was also revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet."

"Oh, thanks."

**The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.**

"Argh!" Percy groaned as his friends laughed.

"I still don't know how you managed that!" Travis laughed, his eyes watering.

"It really did the impossible!" Conner agreed.

"Shut up, you two!" Percy snapped.

"What happened?" Neville asked.

Annabeth giggled and explained before Percy could stop her. "Let's just say that Percy is horrible at archery. He aimed for the target, Chiron was standing behind him, and once Percy released the arrow, it somehow did a weird flip, flew over his head instead and tangled itself in Chiron's tail which was behind the shields."

At first there was silence. Then everyone started laughing at the red dude sitting next to Annabeth.

"Traitor," he muttered, which caused them to laugh even louder.

**Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.**

"We know," everyone who had raced a nymph had said.

"How fast can they go?" Hermione asked curiously.

"As fast as a horse," Percy said, shaking his head.

"Harry may have a chance then," Ron remarked. "The guy nearly runs faster than a cheetah."

"I do not!" Harry protested.

"I've seen you run forty meters in five seconds, Harry," Ginny objected. Harry blushed at the incredulous stares he was getting.

"Hey, if your life was in danger you'd run that fast too," he said, folding his arms. He'd had a lot of practice anyways. Running that fast didn't come out of nowhere, after all...

**And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.**

**"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.**

"I don't like her," Hermione huffed.

"Clarisse isn't so bad anymore," Percy objected. "Just don't get on her bad side."

"I'm sure we all know why?" Travis said, rolling his eyes. All because of Chris...

**The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.**

Harry and Hermione smirked triumphantly at Percy who resisted sticking his tongue out at them. They didn't realize that Perce and Luna were beginning to catch on to the water hints.

**I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids.**

"No duh!"

"Okay, I get it, Conner! I'm horrible!"

**I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or — gods forbid — Dionysus's way with vine plants.**

Everyone shuddered at the thought of Mr. D being Percy's dad...

**Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.**

'_Maybe he did_,' Percy thought to himself. '_Kronos could have told him..._'

**Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile.**

Percy smiled at this. His father's smile gave one of the warmest feelings in the world: love and pride. He always felt uplifted when his father smiled at him. It gave him confidence and strength.

Thalia caught his smug look and internally sighed. She knew what he was thinking of by looking at his face. She really didn't feel a connection to her dad, but she was grateful that she did with Artemis.

**I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...**

"Tell me he's not thinking what I think he's thinking," Nico groaned. No one did.

**I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?**

"The Ancient Laws," Annabeth sighed. "They forbid immortals to have direct interference with demigods' lives, and also bars them from having frequent contact with them too."

"That's sad," Harry frowned.

"That's our lives," Percy said, shaking his head.

**Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.**

**We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good. The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long.**

"That's almost like getting a wand," Hermione said after a thought. "You have to be comfortable with it to use it properly. It must feel friendly in your hand, not opposing or dangerous. It connects with you, making it truly yours. With a sword, it must have a good balance and feel, right? You must be comfortable with it."

"Exactly," Thalia smiled. "All of us have our own weapons that we feel comfortable with."

**Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me. We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.**

**"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."**

**"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.**

**The camper snorted.**

"Sorry," Conner apologized, knowing it had been him who had done that. "It's just that no one ever beat him on the first try."

"It's okay, Conner," Percy said, waving it aside.

**Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" _Whap!_ "Lunge!" _Whap!_** **"Now, back!" _Whap!_**

"Trained in combat," Harry muttered softly. Ginny heard him and grinned, knowing that he was talking about the DA.

**By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same. Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.**

Hermione held back the smug expression, not wanting to look arrogant. It was killing her not to tell Ron...

**"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."**

**Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.**

"My favorite show," Thalia smirked.

"Really?" Percy said waspishly. "I thought it was '_Look down from a Thousand Feet_.'"

Thalia glared murderously. Unconsciously, Nico moved closer to Rachel, as did Grover to Percy, both looking warily at the daughter of Zeus between them.

"Did I miss something?" Ron asked.

"No," Thalia said heatedly. "Travis!"

"Continuing," Travis said quickly.

**The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.**

**"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."**

**He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.**

**"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"**

**I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming.**

Annabeth smiled at that. In the present day, Percy was their best-swordsman at camp. He was the one doing the training now.

**I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.**

Thalia sighed internally. Luke had never liked to be bested in duels. She'd learned that from all the times she had beaten him.

**The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, _What the heck?_**

**I tried the disarming maneuver. My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.**

_**Clang.**_

**Luke's sword rattled against the stones.**

Silence.

"Impressive," Nico nodded.

"On his first try too," Rachel commented.

"Nice," Neville agreed. So did the others.

"It might be inherited as well," Annabeth muttered softly. "From what I hear, your dad's a natural fighter."

"Really?" Percy asked, smiling. Annabeth nodded.

**The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.**

**The other campers were silent.**

**I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."**

"You defeated him — and you apologized for it?" Ginny said slowly.

"Yeah," Percy said defensively.

"Wow," she said, leaning back on the couch and rolling her eyes. He made it sound like it was a complete accident... He proved that he was earning the skill, not just by luck.

**For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.**

**"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"**

**I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.**

**After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"**

"Remember someone else's beginner's luck, Hermione?" Ron asked innocently.

"Why, yes I do, Ron," she said. "He'd never done it before."

"And yet he got on the team without trying," Ron added.

"Oh, shut up," Harry said, trying not to sound smug. It hadn't seemed like beginner's luck to him, but it had been his first time on a broomstick, after all.

The Greeks were confused, but no one questioned them, so Travis continued.

**Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."**

**Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat,**

"Nice wording," Grover said sarcastically. Percy laughed.

**but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.**

"I hate it when that happens," Thalia groaned. At least she didn't have to do that anymore — climbing so high...

"I'm surprised you gave it a shot," Percy said, not teasing, but just stating.

"I'm not a complete coward," she muttered.

**We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D. His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.**

**"Fine," he said. "Just great."**

**"So your career's still on track?"**

**He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"**

"What's a searcher's license?" Ron asked.

"Not now, Ron," Grover sighed. "It'll come up."

Ron groaned.

**"Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was,**

"Neither do I," Ron grumbled, causing Hermione to nudge him in the ribs.

**but it didn't seem like the right time to ask.**

Ron sighed dejectedly. Ginny bit back a smile of amusement.

**"He just said you had big plans, you know ... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"**

**Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."**

"I consider it complete," Harry and Ginny said together, blushing immediately afterwards. Ron caught that and his eyes narrowed.

**My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"**

_**"Blaa-ha-ha!**_

"Hey, I can do that better than Thalia!" Travis grinned. Grover chuckled, remembering how he had to make those sounds because she couldn't.

Thalia rolled her eyes.

**He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"**

**"Of course I'd want you along!"**

**Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill."**

"Grover's Ron," George said, frowning. "Percy is Harry, Annabeth is Hermione, and Grover is Ron."

The named individuals frowned at them.

"You know what, you're right," Perce said, studying their personalities. "Harry and Percy are the really brave ones. Hermione and Annabeth are the brains. Ron and Grover are the best friends who have confidence issues."

Grover and Ron exchanged startled glances. Grover read Ron's emotions and realized they were embarrassed because his brother was right. Looking back on it, Grover really had been a bit of a coward, but tough experiences and rough trials had given him the courage to shed away the old skin.

Ron was thinking along the same lines except his lack on confidences had come from too many siblings and better friends, not bullying or lack of skill. However, in the end they had made their own marks in the world. They were yet to read it.

**I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods.**

"Was that safe?" Rachel asked.

"We do it all the time," Conner shrugged. "Since no god has struck us down yet, I think they don't mind too much."

The Brits paled when he said 'struck us down'. The gods would kill you if you insulted them? They would kill their own children?

**Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.**

**"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."**

'_Of course_,' Thalia thought. '_Where would her hunters go? Definitely not the Hermes cabin..._'

**"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"**

**Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job.**

"Subtle way to put it," Thalia grimaced.

"Sorry, but it's true," Grover shrugged.

'_Great, another god to add to the list with Apollo and Hermes_,' Ron thought sulkily. '_What makes it worse is that he's already married_.'

**When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."**

**"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."**

"And in comes my dad," Thalia sighed.

"And mine," Nico added dejectedly.

'_And mine too_,' Percy thought.

Hermione and Harry caught on their their similar expressions and wanted to laugh, not because they had figure out Percy's heritage, but only because the expressions were so alike and humorous on such different faces.

**"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."**

"Yeah, and the weapons of power too," Nico said. "Frankly, though my father's weapon is pretty cool, I don't think it equals up with Zeus and Poseidon. It wasn't a fair deal there."

"I'd agree, but more weapons would upset the balance," Thalia said, thinking about the sword Hades now had in his possession.

"What weapons do they have?" Neville asked.

"Zeus had his Master Bolt, it shoots lightning. Poseidon has his Trident, and Hades has his Helm of Darkness," Annabeth explained.

"He can turn into shadows," Nico said proudly. Then suddenly, he himself turning into a shadow and appeared behind Ron, but he didn't know.

"Where'd he go?" Luna asked. Then she saw him behind Ron. He put his finger to his lips and the Greeks held back a smirk. Luna looked back at them and sighed silently.

"Nico?" Hermione called out. "Where are you?"

Nico tiptoed up behind Ron and, without warning, poked him behind the head before vanishing again.

"_AHHHH!_" Ron yelped, jumping off his seat so high that he almost flew to the other end of the room.

The wizards all tumbled out of their seats in shock, but when they saw Luna covering her smile, they realized it had been Nico to do that, especially since they heard his loud laughing.

"_What the bloody hell?_" Ron cried, massaging his chest while the Greeks roared away.

"_Nico di Angelo!_" Rachel called out. "_Get yourself back here!_"

The wizards fell back into their seats, reeling from Nico's joke. Suddenly, black smoke erupted in the shadows by the fireplace and the figure of Nico di Angelo stepped out, grinning wider than he had before.

"That was fun!" Nico grinned, returning to his seat.

"That was cruel!" Ron objected, glaring at him. Ginny, George, Harry, Neville, and Luna didn't seem to agree because they were laughing away.

"Oh, come on, it was joke," Ginny giggled.

"Yeah, how'd you do that?" Neville asked.

"It's called Shadow Travel," Nico explained. "Children of Hades are able to use it to transport themselves through shadows. I've never needed to use an airplane."

"It's almost like Apparition," Perce commented. "A form of travel for us wizards," he added when he saw their perplexed expressions. "But it's really uncomfortable."

"Then I prefer shadow traveling," Nico said confidently. "I may get tired more often, but it never hurts."

"Just don't do that again," Ron said, rubbing his chest.

"No guarantee," Nico said, waving at Travis to continue reading before Ron could respond.

"I still think that's frightening and cool," Conner noted as Travis started again.

**"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."**

**"Uh-huh."**

**"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."**

**"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."**

"Hurtful," Nico said softly, and Grover sense genuine sadness at the comment.

"Sorry, Nico," Grover apologized. "You're different."

"Thanks," Nico smiled. He looked a lot more pleasant when he smiled and less maniacal.

**"But Zeus and Poseidon — they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"**

**Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably.**

**"About sixty years ago, after World War II,**

The word 'war' caught Hermione's attention. She hadn't forgotten about her debate on Nico's age, but she almost did.

**the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other.**

Nico grimaced. Those were his brothers. Hermione caught the reaction and nodded to herself. Hint one...

**The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."**

"Then how are you guys here?" Ron asked Nico and Thalia.

"Keep reading," Thalia shrugged.

**Thunder boomed.**

"Why does it always thunder when someone says River Styx?" Luna asked. As if on cue, they heard thundering outside.

Everyone shrugged. Nico said, "It just happens. When it thunders extra loudly, that means that an Oath had been made."

"Oh," Luna said.

**I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."**

**Grover nodded.**

**"And the brothers kept their word — no kids?"**

**Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon.**

'_What a way to put it_,' Thalia groaned internally. Grover caught her emotions and shot her an apologetic smile.

**There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo — he just couldn't help himself.**

"Couldn't help himself?" Ginny asked, a fury starting to build up. "What is she, food?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Grover said, blushing.

**When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia... well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."**

"And in comes me," Thalia muttered, leaning forward. She stared down at the floor between her knees and clasped her hands together. Nico put a hand on her shoulder, not meaning any harm. He took it as a good sign that she didn't throw him off.

**"But that isn't fair. It wasn't the little girl's fault."**

**Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia.**

"_What?_" half the room cried out in outrage.

"Hades wanted kill you?" Luna asked, shocked.

"Yep," Thalia said. "He did too."

"What?"

"Keep reading, I think I explained it," Grover said.

**A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."**

Grover sighed. There was no changing what had happened, but if he had only done a little better, maybe she would have gotten a better chance...

**He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds.**

Everyone winced at the mention of the Kindly Ones. One of them had been terrifying enough, but all three...

**They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others.**

"You're so brave," Ginny said in awe. Thalia gave her a small smile, but remembered how it had been that day. She got lost in the memory...

* * *

Vena stopped in the middle section of the shelf before her. Standing before her was a variety of little crystal balls, all glowing silvery-blue. She ran her hand lightly over each of them, studying the swirling mist inside them. Then she picked up a small ball that was the diameter of her little finger. The mist churned inside it like nebula.

"This is what she remembers," Vena muttered, holding the ball to her forehead.

* * *

_She, Annabeth, Luke, and Grover had just burst out of the trees into the slick roads. It had been raining heavily that night. They were all covered in cuts and bruises. Luke had broken his arm and Annabeth was fatigued. Grover, little Grover, was almost in tears when he saw the hill to camp._

_"This way!" he yelled. "It's just over here!"_

_A loud, ground-breaking howl rang out through the trees behind him. Frightening screeches added to the mix, sending chills of fear down Thalia's spine._

_"Run! Now!" she screamed at the others. She grabbed Annabeth, who was so weak from running, and nearly dragged her towards the hill. They were only half-way up when horrible red light glowed across the road. Thalia risked turning her head to see the three furies lash their way out of the trees using their fiery whips. The trees, despite the pouring rain, were devoured by flames which looked like they wouldn't die away._

_"THERE!" she heard one of them cry. "GET THEM!"_

_Annabeth collapsed to the ground. "I can't go anymore," she wailed. "I'm too tired!"_

_"No, Annabeth, get up!" Thalia shouted, dragging the little seven year old to her feet. "We're almost there. You have to move!"_

_Annabeth choked out a sob. Suddenly, Luke was there. The left side of his face was drenched in blood and his left arm hung limp at his side, but he grabbed up Annabeth with the other and pulled her onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift._

_"We gotta go, we gotta go!" he snapped. "Hurry up!"_

_Thalia and Luke managed to get to the top of the hill, but then something horrible happened. One of the hellhounds got to Grover. It pounced and flattened him into the ground. He cried out in panic, trying to escape._

_"Grover!" Thalia screamed._

_She activated Aegis and pointed it in the hellhound's direction. The creature howled in terror and leapt off the satyr who immediately scrambled to his feet. In the distance, they could hear a shout and a few lights went on._

_"Get them to the camp!" Thalia ordered. "I'll hold them off!"_

_"No way!" Luke screamed. He put Annabeth in Grovers arms and pulled out his sword. "I'm not leaving you here!"_

_"You don't have a choice!" Thalia snapped back._

_"Grover, get Annabeth to safety!" Luke said quickly._

_Grover looked down at the little girl in his arms. "I can't leave you two here," he protested. "I have to get Thalia to camp!"_

_Three hellhounds pounced at them. Luke quickly sliced one of them with his sword while Thalia activated he electric spear. She zapped the next one and held the spear in a threatening manner towards the third one. The furies cackled from above, watching as the hellhounds attacked. They were waiting for her. Thalia knew it. They didn't want Luke. They didn't want Grover. They didn't want Annabeth. They wanted her. She was putting the others in danger._

_"Grover, this is more than me now!" Thalia said quickly, trying to make her voice heard above the loud storm. "I'm not worth it! Protect Luke and Annabeth! Take them to camp! Get them to safety!"_

_"But what about you?" Grover yelled. His eyes were starting to form tears._

_"Leave me here."_

_Luke looked like Thalia had personally stabbed him in the chest. The hellhound took its chance to pounce at Grover and Annabeth. Thalia instantly went into defense mode and slashed at it, killing the creature before it could get there. But there were seven more hellhounds left plus three angry furies. They wouldn't stand a chance._

_"Grover Underwood, for the last _freaking_ time, get Annabeth to camp!" Thalia screamed. She pointed her spear at Grover's feet and sent a small bolt at his feet. Grover yelped and scampered away, going down the hill where he was met by another satyr. He handed Annabeth over to him quickly and started back up the hill for Luke._

_"Thalia, so help me damn it, I'm not leaving you here by yourself!" Luke roared, killing another hound._

_"Yes, you will, you stubborn son of Hermes," Thalia snapped back. She used a bit of her strength to summon a bolt of lightning from the sky. It tore through the fierce rain and made a large crater between the demigods and the monsters. The furies screeched in outrage and alarm and flew backward for safety. "You're not leaving Annabeth alone! I forbid you!"_

_"No," Luke responded. Thalia wanted to hit him. "No, I'm not leaving you! I can't leave you! I need you!" Thalia turned away from to towards the hellhounds. "I love you."_

_Thalia turned around and stared at Luke in shock. "What did you say to me?" she asked hoarsely. The furies made to attack again by Thalia summoned another bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, it didn't hit them, but it forced them to back off again._

_Luke didn't answer her. Instead he grabbed her arm, pulled her forward and kissed her right on the lips. Thalia, momentarily shocked, let down all the defenses. She forgot the hellhounds and the furies. She forgot about Grover and Annabeth. She forgot where she was. She forgot what was happening. She forgot she was a demigod. All she was aware of was that Luke was kissing her. Luke, who was only two years older than her twelve — nearly thirteen — year old age, was kissing her with a passion. She forgot how to breathe._

_When he broke away from her, his eyes were burning. "You're my best friend, I won't leave you," he whispered. It was so soft that in the midst of the storm she almost didn't hear him._

_"You don't have a choice," Thalia said softly before shoving him hard towards the hill. He stumbled and fell right on Grover._

_"Thalia, no!"_

_Thalia summoned another bolt of lightning, but this time it wasn't against the monsters. The immense power drove a huge wedge between Luke and Thalia, starting a terrible fire. Thalia barely glimpsed Luke's horrified expression before turning towards the monsters. They lunged at her, both hellhounds and furies, and her life changed forever._

* * *

Vena placed the glowing silvery-blue ball back on the shelf.

"What a sad memory," she said to herself. She sighed and looked down higher up on the shelf. "It is no wonder Luke hated the gods. They were the reason she died."

* * *

"Thalia, it's okay," she heard someone murmur softly. "You're okay, nothing is happening.

Thalia almost didn't feel the arms that wrapped themselves around her. She hadn't realized that her face was soaked with tears. She almost didn't register Annabeth and Ginny hugging her. Nico had moved over to Harry's side so Ginny could have his seat. Grover and Percy had moved around so Annabeth could sit next to Thalia. All of them were surrounding her, looking worried.

"You spaced out for a second," Hermione said softly, taking Thalia's hand into hers. "You weren't listening anymore."

"It was horrible," Thalia said blankly, thinking back on the memory she had. "So bad..."

"What happened?" Luna asked, her voice softer than a whisper.

"The Kindly Ones really did a number," Thalia sighed, wiping away her tears. After talking about it with the other Hunters, it had become an easier topic to discuss, but that didn't stop the pain she felt. "Fiery whips lashing at me, burning my flesh... teeth snapping at me, ripping at my arms and legs... my own spear used against me... rammed right into my stomach... I fought the best I could, but it wasn't enough...it was all my fault..."

"It wasn't your fault," Grover said. "It was mine, if only I'd been quicker—"

"You were the satyr assigned to her?" Neville asked, shocked and sad. That must have been hard on the poor guy.

Grover nodded grimly. "Yeah, it was my—"

"Grover, for the last time, it wasn't your fault," Thalia said. "You only got lost a few times. My encounter with the Hunters held us up as well as all of _HIS_ fights with monsters. It's no one's fault! It's what the Fates decided."

"Stupid decision," Nico grumbled.

"I agree with Nico," Rachel said. "But Thalia's right too. We don't control our fate. We make it because it has to be that way."

"I had to die, remember?" Thalia said. "Who knows what would have happened if I didn't."

Percy sighed. "It still isn't right. You were twelve!"

"And look at where you were when you were twelve," Thalia retorted.

"I went through worse when I was sixteen," Percy snapped.

"You ARE sixteen," she said, a grin pulling at her lips. "And you've only been so for less than two weeks."

"Okay, then, _fifteen_," Percy corrected. This made Thalia laugh.

Ginny smiled and rested her head on Thalia's shoulder before going back to her old seat. Nico and Annabeth got up and returned to their seats as everyone settled back down.

"What happened, happened. There's no changing it," Thalia said. "It's all in the past now."

She sat back in her seat and unconsciously rested her head on Nico's shoulder. Nico looked startled but didn't push her off. The others chuckled at his confused expression. Thalia didn't even notice. It wasn't just dying that day that had hurt her. It had been leaving Luke behind.

When she had returned, discovering his betrayal had been a sword to the heart. She had then doubted what he had said to her. As far as she was concerned, if he had really loved her, he wouldn't have left and joined Kronos. That hadn't stopped her from believing him when he had said it.

Travis sighed before returning to the book. He had caught a look in Thalia's eyes before Ginny went to comfort her. It was the same look he had once seen on Luke when he spoke about her to himself, Conner, and Bette.

'_Please tell me no.._.' he thought as he continued the story.

**So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."**

"More like keeping me from Hades," Thalia corrected. "If my soul had gone to the Underworld, who knows what would have happened to me."

"He would have hurt you?" Harry asked, appalled.

"My soul might have gone into eternal torment," Thalia said. "I don't know why though — why it was such a big deal with him... Poseidon never did anything to me. He doesn't even resent my birth. He was quite neutral..."

Nico sighed. He knew why Hades had sent monsters after Thalia, and then later her mother. Revenge for killing Maria di Angelo, and for trying to kill him and Bianca...

**I stared at the pine in the distance.**

**The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much.**

"I'll take that as a compliment," Thalia grinned.

"I give it as such," Percy smiled as he rolled his eyes. He was glad she was cheering up.

**I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?**

**"Grover," I said, "Have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"**

**"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."**

"Houdini was a demigod, too?" Hermione asked, astounded.

"Yep, son of Hermes," Travis grinned.

**"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"**

**"No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"**

**"No," I lied. "I was just wondering.**

"Yeah, and I'm a naiad," Grover scoffed, shaking his head fondly.

Percy laughed.

**So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"**

**Grover studied me warily.**

"I knew you were lying," Grover added.

"I'm sure you did," Percy laughed, noting Grover's emotion-reading ability.

**I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."**

**"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."**

**Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap.**

"You did."

Percy laughed again.

**"I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were — you know — you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"**

"Do my ears deceive me?" Nico asked in a teasing voice. "Nemesis, the _god_ of revenge? Grover Underwood, did you hit your head?"

Grover blushed as his friends laughed. "No..."

"What's going on?" Ron asked, not know that Nemesis was female.

"Last time I checked, Nemesis was a god_dess_!" Nico corrected him. "Do you know that?"

"Yes, I know that," Grover said, turning beet red. "I was just panicking."

"Yeah, I'm sure when your panicking that you mess up a lot with the info," Nico laughed. "Next thing we know, he calls a male god a goddess."

"Well, Ron did call Apollo 'Polly', so it's a start," Conner snickered. "Didn't George say they were alike?"

"Oh, shut up!" Grover snapped, hiding his face. Ron hid his face in Hermione's hair, causing her to giggle.

**I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.**

**That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.**

**Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.**

**I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"**

"No, they were the decoration," Travis said, rolling his eyes.

**"Yeah."**

"Nu-uh! Travis said they were the decoration!"

"Conner, hush it!"

"Yes, Rachel."

**"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"**

**"Not always," he said. "But often."**

**"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do — repaint the flag?"**

"Repaint the flag?" Conner cried out in mock outrage. "We don't _repaint_ the flag! What are we going to do with you, Percy?"

Percy rolled his eyes at him.

**He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."**

**"Whose side are we on?"**

**He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight.**

"Can he have that removed?" Ginny asked, not liking the evil part that was just read.

"Yeah, but he preferred to keep it for some reason," Annabeth sighed. '_As a reason to hate his father_.'

**"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."**

**The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins.**

"I wonder why that is," Ron grumbled. He still didn't like the idea of womanizing gods.

**Apparently, privileges had been traded — shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities — in order to win support.**

**Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.**

'_Only one, now_,' the Greeks thought sadly. Pollux really missed his twin brother Castor.

**Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive.**

"Oh, trust me, they can be," Travis assured the others. He, Conner, and Bette had been on the other side of the Demeter cabin's wrath. It was never pretty.

**Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.**

"That includes the guys," Nico said, gagging.

He had seen the Aphrodite boys panic over their looks if their hair was out of place or their clothes were wrinkled. The only exception had been Alexander Daniels. He wasn't vain, but quite fashionable and tough. Most girls had fallen in love with him for that.

**Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.**

"Their automatons might be a bigger one," Percy added onto his thoughts.

**That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.**

"Nah!" Ron said. "I'm sure we have some competition at Hogwarts. Crabbe and Goyle, for instance."

"And Flint," George added. "He looked like a troll."

That left everyone snickering.

**Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.**

**"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"**

**He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.**

**"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"**

"Percy, are you asking these questions just to annoy us?" Thalia demanded. Percy smiled sheepishly.

"I guess that was pretty stupid," he admitted.

**Luke looked at me as if I were crazy.**

"I'm looking at you like that right now."

"Enough, Thalia!"

**"Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here — Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."**

**My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast.**

"You really need to build up your muscle," Rachel commented.

"I have," Percy said, offended.

**My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"**

**We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.**

**I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."**

**She kept marching.**

"Cold shoulder," Neville teased.

"Of course," Percy smirked. Annabeth glared at the two of them, but it was ruined by her smile.

**"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"**

**Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.**

"I'm not a kid of Hermes," Percy chided.

"So? If you stayed in there cabin, you could have picked up a few tricks," Annabeth countered.

"But do you really expect me to steal something I don't know about?" Percy replied.

Annabeth groaned as she said, "Okay, you got me!"

"I know I did," he chuckled.

**"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"**

**"Border patrol, whatever that means."**

**"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."**

**She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.**

**"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."**

"Disappointed at the lack of attention?" Rachel teased. Percy blushed and didn't answer.

**It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.**

**Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot.**

"No comment, Thalia," Percy said as she opened her mouth. She ended up giggling instead. Her old saddened mood was lightening up.

**The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball. There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?**

"Nope."

Harry grimaced. "That's comforting."

**Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting.**

'_Kids fighting_,' Harry thought sadly. He knew what that was like. At least in this chapter it was a game and no one died. At least he hoped no one died.

**A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.**

**_Great_, I thought. _I'll miss all the fun, as usual_.**

"Fighting is fun?" Ron asked, sneering in disgust.

"For us," Travis said, confused by the guy's expression. "We need to fight if we want to live."

"I know," Ron replied, before his expression turned dark. '_We fought. Fred died_.'

**Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.**

"Monster?" Nico asked, uncertain. Percy nodded.

"Why does he answer their questions?" Ron muttered to Harry. "And not ours?"

Harry shrugged. "Probably don't want to spoil everything."

**I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling some thing was stalking me. Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.**

"That's good," Ginny muttered.

"For now," Percy muttered back. She bit her lip anxiously.

**On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.**

**"_Cream the punk!_" Clarisse screamed.**

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Neville said, waving his hands. "You guys are in a mini-battle to win a game, and she goes ahead and leaves the game to get him?" He jerked his thumb towards Percy. "What about the game?"

"Her pride was wounded," Percy shrugged. "She wanted revenge."

Neville shook his head. Clarisse and Percy nearly seemed like Slytherins and Gryffindors.

**Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords — not that that made me feel any better.**

**They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.**

**I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.**

**Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.**

"You have something against electric spears?" Thalia smirked at Percy.

"No, I just didn't like one being used on me," Percy grumbled. Thalia hit given him a few hits with her electric spear, and he didn't like it.

"But that can kill you!" Ginny protested. She knew what electricity was, thanks to Hermione, and knew it could be very dangerous. Her father loved to talk about it, but sometimes he got a few points wrong — like its name, for instance.

"That's the point," Nico, Percy, and Thalia said at once.

"You guys are mental," Ron said, shaking his head.

**I fell back. Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt. They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.**

"And this is funny?" Hermione snapped, folding her arms.

"Yeah," the Stolls snickered. They didn't even falter under her glare. Katie and Clarisse had given them far worse.

**"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."**

'_Haven't I heard those words before_,' Harry thought in amusement. '_And it's never worked_.'

**I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.**

**"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."**

**"The flag is that way," I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.**

**"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."**

**"You do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.**

Most people laughed, but Ginny and Hermione were looking worried.

"Not the smartest, but definitely one of the funniest," Ron said eagerly, giving Percy a high-five.

"Why didn't I ever come up with that?" Conner groaned as his brother continued.

**Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs.**

Everyone winced. That must have really hurt.

**If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-kebabbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.**

**Seeing my own blood made me dizzy — warm and cold at the same time.**

**"No maiming," I managed to say.**

**"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."**

"Wait!" Hermione shrieked. "You lose _dessert privileges_ if you maim and injure people?" They didn't answer her, but they looked nervous.

"It's not that bad," Conner said.

"It could be worse," Travis added.

Hermione fumed. "How?"

"Washing dishes using lava, not water," Annabeth and Percy said, grimacing.

Hermione stared. "Are you serious?"

"They would know," Travis said remembering what was going to happen the next summer.

"I'm happy I'm not a demigod," Hermione muttered, and her friends agreed.

Neville sighed. Nothing like that wouldn't happen at Hogwarts, but the Cruciatus curse would make anything else look sane.

**He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.**

"_Bad idea_," Nico said in Greek. Percy grinned evilly.

**They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.**

Hermione pushed aside her thoughts to think about the story. They were getting closer...

**Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.**

**Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me.**

"What lovely names," Luna giggled.

Percy blushed. "Those were Derek and Mason."

**I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four**

"Another lovely name!" Conner snickered.

"That was Andell," Percy scowled.

**didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.**

**"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"**

"I'm not the corpse breath worm!" Percy protested.

"No, that's Nico!" Thalia agreed.

"Whatever, Pinecone Face," Nico said waspishly. "Ouch." A blushing Thalia had punched him in the ribs. It wasn't very hard, but he winced.

**She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.**

**Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.**

**"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."**

"Really?" Neville asked. He was still confused as to why they would go after Percy, revenge or not, but now it was making sense. "He was the bait. They must have been the stronger fighters. Nice plan."

"Thank you," Annabeth smiled.

"_No_ thank you," Percy scowled. "I still haven't forgiven you for that!"

"Oh, get over it," Annabeth said, waving it aside.

**They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.**

**The game was over. We'd won.**

"They treat this the way we do Quidditch," George comment, earning nods from the quidditch players/fans.

"What's Quidditch?" Rachel asked.

"Wizard sport played on broomsticks," Ginny sighed. Oh, how she wanted to go fly now.

"Cool," the Stolls grinned.

**I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."**

**I looked, but she wasn't there.**

"Huh?" Neville asked.

**"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.**

"You have an invisibility hat?" Harry asked, impressed.

"Yep, a gift from my mother," Annabeth smiled.

"That's cool," Harry nodded. "I have an invisibility cloak."

"When you put it on, you turn invisible completely?" George asked Annabeth, cracking out of is depression by a minute degree. Annabeth nodded. "Brilliant. Fred and I—" he stuttered at the mention of Fred's name, but he bravely pushed forward. "W-we made hats t-that turn only the head invisible."

"The Headless Hats collection," Ginny nodded, staring at her brother with wonder. "Those are brilliant."

"Who's Fred?" Grover asked. He immediately felt agony and sorrow coming from the other group.

"Family member," Ron, Ginny, and Perce said. Hermione hugged Ron; Harry gripped Ginny's hand, and Neville and Luna patted George's knee and gazed at Perce sadly.

Grover, sensing deep waters that they didn't want to face, turned to Travis and said, "Read."

Travis nodded.

The Weasleys gave Grover a grateful smile. They didn't want to break down now. George nuzzled his head in Perce's shoulder, regretting speaking at all. He just couldn't help it. A single tear fell on Perce's shirt as Travis continued.

**I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."**

**"A plan to get me pulverized."**

"No it wasn't," Annabeth muttered.

**"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help."**

**Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"**

**"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"**

**"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."**

**The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.**

"Whoa, how can you do that?" Neville asked, gaping.

"You'll find out in a minute," Percy said, smirking at his expression.

**"I-I don't get it," I said.**

**Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."**

**"What—"**

**"Just do it."**

**I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.**

"The water gives you power?" Neville asked.

Percy nodded.

"Oh, well, then it's obvious who your father is," Luna said.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Think back to an earlier part of the chapter," Hermione hinted. Harry nodded.

"You guys already know?"

"Yeah," they said.

The Greeks gave the Brits time to think it out. Only Ginny, Neville, George, and Perce worked out the '_Poseidon, god of the sea_' part when they talked about Thalia's death. Sea — equals — water. Ron, on the other hand, didn't catch on. He looked disgruntled when everyone else did.

"Oh!" the others said. "Water powers."

"I don't get it," Ron grumbled.

"Give it a minute," Hermione said, waving at Travis to start reading again. He did so, laughing silently at Ron.

**"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."**

"Why would I want to be a child of Zeus?" Percy asked, disgusted. "All they have is lightning power. I have a whole lot more which is way more cooler."

"I would be offended, but I agree," Thalia said. "I don't have that many powers from Dad. At least I have good fighting skills."

**Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.**

**The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "_Stand ready! My bow!_"**

**Annabeth drew her sword. There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.**

"A hellhound?" Nico yelped. Those were not friendly — at least Mrs. O'Leary was different.

"What's that again?" Neville asked. The name had come up earlier but he couldn't remember what the creature really was.

"A massive demon dog that usually live in the Underworld," Nico explained. "They usually torture souls in the Fields of Punishment. I've seen them do it."

The Brits paled. That didn't sound good.

**It was looking straight at me.**

**Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"**

**She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her — an enormous shadow with teeth — and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.**

"Thank god," Hermione said, clutching her chest. She had gone through a lot of dangers, but somehow Percy's seemed worse. His life was meant to be dangerous. Hers was because of her choices.

**By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.**

**Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.**

**"_Di immortales!_" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."**

**"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."**

**Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.**

**Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"**

"Oh, please, I have a better chance at summoning one of those than him!" Nico said, jabbing his finger at Percy.

"I summon one all the time," Percy grinned, thinking of his pet hellhound.

"That is a different story," Nico objected. "And I don't appreciate you telling her to drool on me!"

Percy snickered. Harry asked, "What are you two talking about?"

"Percy's pet hellhound," Conner said, rolling his eyes.

"_What?_"

"A different story, but she's really sweet, actually," Percy said, trying not to break a rib laughing at the Brits' expressions.

**"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.**

**We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.**

**"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."**

**"I'm okay."**

**"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."**

**I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me. Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.**

**"Look, I-I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."**

"Why are you apologizing?" Ginny asked.

"I thought it was something wrong," Percy replied sheepishly. "I didn't understand what was going on and I thought they didn't like it."

**But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."**

**By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.**

Now Ron caught on. "Trident? That came up earlier! Doesn't that have something to do with, um... I... um, _Porpoise_? What's his name?"

Harry put his face in his hands as everyone groaned. Percy looked upset that Ron got his dad's name wrong, while he himself had mistaken a few other names in the past.

"First _Polly_, now _Porpoise_!" Travis laughed, wiping away a tear on mirth. "What next?"

"Firstly, it's _Poseidon_," Percy said, glaring. "And secondly, yes, his weapon of power is his trident."

"Sorry," Ron said, blushing as everyone grinned at him.

**"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."**

**"It is determined," Chiron announced.**

**All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.**

**"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.**

**"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."**

"A child of the Big Three, too!" Nico added, grinning. "Big Three Trio, complete."

Thalia and Percy laughed with him.

"And a forbidden child, to be exact," Rachel said, giggling dryly.

"Not to mention that the Claim made you sound epic," Travis added, holding up the book. "I'm done."

"My turn, then," Percy Weasley said, taking the book from him.

* * *

Vena exited the vast room and ventured down the corridor towards the light. She sensed Apollo's presence within the building. She was surprised. She would have thought he'd have left by now.

Replaying Thalia's old memory reminded her of how love could be cruel. That was something she had seen too many times for her liking. She watched as the gods broke the hearts of the immortal and mortal, or of mortals to each other.

The worst was to see Apollo and his string of lovers, and how he would leave them in the dust when he was through with them. She knew Apollo was aware of what she thought of him. As far as she was concerned, he didn't nothing to change it, no matter how many times he said he would.

"_My heart is wounded — my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry..._" she sang softly. How many years ago had that prophecy been made? Only a few years after Athena's birth.

"_Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love_." There were two outcomes to this reading session between the Greeks and the Brits. One would be the natural future that they would all live out, just the way they'd want to. The other was the one where her presence was most necessary. This prophecy would be the latter one. She sighed and thought of the readers in the guest common room. Well, mostly the Greeks.

If this prophecy were to ever come true, then Apollo would one day be fully happy. Maybe she would be too. She smiled at the future Nico would have; of his little son, should he ever live to have him.

Of Thalia's, the life she would have if she no longer served Artemis, but her father instead. It would be rough at first, but worth it in the end.

Conner's; his would be bright and full of love he'd never expect. His change would stun them all. His Love would shock them to the next world.

Travis's would so sweet with a wife he'd never leave. Vena smiled as she thought about the next book they would read. They'd have a real shock at the end, but it would never match Travis's.

Grover would live a happy life. Pan would have been proud to discover what Grover would do in this alternative future.

Even Rachel would have her loveliest part, with a husband who would love her for herself, not her father's money. But then Vena thought of Percy and Annabeth. She sighed again.

Annabeth and Percy would both be given spectacular lives in this latter future. Percy would be powerful, almost as much as an Olympian. His name would be as sacred as the River Styx. Annabeth would be great. She would be envied by her siblings and loved dearly by her mother. She would have her dream of being an architect. But while both would be great, there would be a heavy price to pay.

If this prophecy were to come true at all, Annabeth would lose her Percy Jackson.

Forever.

* * *

**_Dun-dun-dun!_ I always wanted to do that, but I never have. At least in writing.**

**Okay, so the last bit above is part of my plan for my fan-fiction, though I really have no clue where Rick Riordan is going with his writing. All I know is that in the end of the HoO series is when I'll start the story I've planned. I've already mentioned Jason for Thalia, so there's no chance of me just pretending that HoO never happened for this story. If anything changes to any of the characters, then a few minor edits will be made to the storyline.**

**I'm sorry it took all week for an update, but school work is harder pressure. I went to sleep at 7pm last night and woke up 10:30am this morning. I can't believe how tired I've been all week. After all, I have been sleeping like a Medusa victim lately — that is to say, a rock.**

**I want to say thanks to all who reviewed on the last chapter.  
**

**To all those who are asking if I'm alternating the stories, the answer is no. I'm doing all of Percy's, then all of Harry's. I think it would be too soon to add Harry's story. Plus, there will be Fred in the book and I don't want to handle a weeping George every five minutes.  
**

**To lunalovegood0628: I haven't read the Titan's Curse in a while. I don't remember that part too much, but I remember the words "slow" and "hopeful". Well, mostly "hopeful", but I knew he mentioned the song was slow. I don't remember any other specifics** **— other than the fact that the music was played by the Muses and it sounded different to everyone.** **  
**

**To Sakra: Thanks for the part with Lee and yes, Nico _is_ my favorite character next to Percy and Thalia. They are my top three. Annabeth, Tyson, Rachel, and Grover are added to make top seven. As for the part with Thalia and Ron, well, I couldn't resist writing that part. I thought it would cool.  
**

**To Reading-is-4-life: A Thalia/Nico pairing. Well, I wasn't planning to pair off none-canon ships for a while, but I'll consider.  
**

**To Taka: Yeah, I always thought they would be unbearable. Poor Nico. Yeah, this chapter wasn't one of my favorites, but I try to make each chapter as enjoyable as possible.  
**

**To teanotes: Thank you for that. :) Do you mean Nico vaguely remembering _Harry_, not Percy? Because I think Nico knows Percy. Your theory made me smile. It's pretty close. And yeah, I laughed at Apollo too. The poor guy - god - both.  
**

**To ghost fire bender: I've mentioned in Chapter Three that Nico can't summon anyone to where he is. And I'm not bringing in Fred, though I would dearly love to.  
**

**~ o~  
**

**So, time for thought. What do you make of Vena's last thoughts of the chapter? Shocking, I know.  
**

**~ o ~  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	13. I Am Offered a Quest

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**I know by now you've realized I've changed the name of the Story from "Reading the Lightning Thief" to "Journey Through Story One". I guess I got a little paranoid when I realized how much of the "reading the books" stories are getting dumped. Only a few days ago I realized that 20 of my favorites were gone. I know changing the title wouldn't help much, but what's done is done, and I don't feel like reverting it.**

**UPDATE NOTE: The next chapter isn't going to be a reading!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**I Am Offered a Quest**

* * *

Apollo stood outside the room the demigods were reading in. Vena had been very vague about Percy's and Annabeth's futures, but she had given him a few glimpses of the future generations. The sight of Mika, Lux, Riki, Gio, and Lazzi had been him smile, especially since their nicknames sounded so funny. The changes seen in Hades, Artemis, even Zeus, were incredible to him. He had spoken to Vena about bringing in Lazzi for a while, but Vena had been reluctant.

She didn't want the demigods to know of the immortal children. Not yet.

Apollo wondered what they would think if they did. He pondered over it for a minute and had to hide a soft chuckle. Conner and Travis would find it hilarious. He'd like to see Percy's reaction to his daughter, that was for sure... Then he frowned. How would Annabeth react?

* * *

George sat up straighter so Perce could hold the book better. He was starting to get frustrated with himself. He had always been the emotional twin between himself and Fred. Fred and been the rock of the duo. When he was around, George never really cried at all, not even when Dumbledore and Sirius had died. He was starting to get disoriented with himself. He didn't feel like George Weasley anymore. He kept his face as blank as possible, but he had a feeling that Perce was not fooled.

Perce sighed as his brother shifted around. He hoped nothing bad would happen in this chapter and set George off. As he started reading, the Greeks noted it was a little odd to hear Percy's thoughts with a British accent. Not to mention it was being read by the British Percy. That was weird.

"**Chapter Nine: I Am Offered a Quest**," Perce said, trying to tone down the fact that his voice was starting to sound pompous.

**The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.**

**I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.**

**And I was absolutely miserable.**

"I know how you feel," Nico sighed. "It's really lonely." He was always alone in the Hades cabin.

"I used to go through that, but not anymore," Thalia nodded, though she was sympathetic for Percy's situation. At least Tyson could come around for Percy. And she had the hunters now.

"Well, the rest of us have lots of bunk mates," The Stolls nodded.

"Not me," Rachel added. She lived in a cool cave, but usually it was alone. At home it was the same thing. Always alone. "At least I have great friends."

That made her friends smile.

**Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid — or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood — I'd been separated out as if I had some rare disease.**

"I know how THAT feels," Harry sighed. Being the Boy Who Lived/Chosen One had separated him from ever being truly normal, but at least he had good friends who didn't care about that.

Harry's friends looked at him sadly. They knew how much he hated his fame.

**Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back.**

**The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one; that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.**

**The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.**

**"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."**

**Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes.**

"I wasn't pleased that you were a child of Poseidon," Annabeth sighed. She had really been annoyed with that.

"Why not?" Neville asked. They were dating, weren't they?

"Children of Athena and children of Poseidon don't get along," Percy explained. "That's because Athena and Poseidon have a rivalry that we don't need to talk about right now."

**After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan ..."**

"You heard that, huh?" Annabeth asked sheepishly.

"Yeah," Percy sighed. That had stung a little bit, but he was over it.

**Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored.**

"I don't know, being ignored is something I want from people who aren't my friends," Harry mused. "I can't go anywhere without people staring and gaping at me."

"What'd you do to get that?" Nico asked, his eyebrow raised.

"I'm famous back home," Harry muttered, turning red.

Nico stared at him for a second. His instincts telling him he knew something about Harry was starting to come back. He couldn't recalling seeing Harry before. However he might of seen some people who resembled him in Elysium. He must have had some good ancestors if they were there. Yet he couldn't help feeling that something was missing...

**I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.**

**BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER**

**FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**

**BY EILEEN SMYTHE**

**_Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding._**

**_Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident._**

**_Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past. Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline._**

"Oh great! Now you're a wanted person!" Ginny groaned, covering her eyes.

"I sympathize, Percy," Harry said. He remembered that in the past few months, he himself had been on the Wanted list.

**The phone number was circled in black marker.**

**I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.**

**"Lights out," I told myself miserably.**

**That night, I had my worst dream yet.**

"I hate demigod dreams," Percy groaned. "They're awful."

**I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.**

"Los Angeles," Nico muttered to himself.

**About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green. They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose. I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand. Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.**

"Kindergartners?" Thalia giggled. Her father would not be pleased if he ever heard that description.

"Well, that's how they were acting!" Percy defended.

**The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.**

**I yelled, _Stop it! Stop fighting!_**

**The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.**

**_Come down_, little hero, the voice crooned. _Come down!_**

"What's that?" Ron gulped. That didn't sound good.

"A very evil person," Percy stated. He glanced at Nico, hoping he wouldn't be too offended when he found out that Percy thought it had been Hades, not Kronos. He had a rocky relationship with his father, but Hades was still his father anyways, and Nico would be very defensive. He knew what Nico could be like with a temper. He had seen his powers go up a few times. As Nico took another gulp of 'Limoncello', it slowly began to dawn on him why Nico needed a tonic...

**The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.**

**I woke up, sure I was falling.**

**I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.**

**I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.**

**"Come in?"**

**Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."**

**"Why?"**

**"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."**

"He wanted to kill me?" Percy asked, looking at Grover, who turned pink.

"Um, not really, he just wasn't very pleased with you," Grover mumbled.

"When is he pleased with anyone?" Rachel asked.

"With Pollux?" Conner asked. He almost said 'Pollux and Castor', but then he remembered that Castor was dead.

"Who's he, again?" Neville asked.

"Mr. D's son," Annabeth replied.

**Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble.**

**For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive. The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.**

"Pessimistic much?" Rachel asked, an eyebrow raised.

Percy rolled his eyes.

**Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.**

**"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."**

"Lucky you," Ron said. "It rains a lot around our school."

**I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"**

**He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."**

**I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.**

**But this storm ... this one was huge.**

**At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins**

George grimaced at the word 'twins'.

**were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.**

**Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel chair. They were playing against invisible opponents — two sets of cards hovering in the air.**

**"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."**

"Oh my god," Harry said, his eyes sparking with amusement.

"Mr. D is related to Snape!" Ron chortled. "I remember when he said the something similar to Harry!"

The Brits laughed. Percy gaped at them.

"Seriously?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and put on an imitation of Snape. "_Ah, Yes. Harry Potter. Our new — celebrity_."

They all fell into silent laughter.

**"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."**

"Barnacle-Beard?" Conner snickered. "Seriously?"

"Yep, Dad and I have a lot of sea related nicknames, most of which are used in ill will," Percy sighed.

**A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.**

"I don't think he was pleased with it, either," Percy pointed out.

**"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.**

**Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.**

**"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames.**

Hermione gasped. "He wouldn't!"

"He would," the Greeks sighed.

"Hey, remember that time he turned one of Hypnos' sons... what was his name?" Travis had to give it some thought before he remembered. "Ah yes, Steven. Do you guys remember when Mr. D turned Steven into a shrub?"

"Would have crushed him too if Chiron hadn't intervened," Conner added.

Hermione turned green. "And this is acceptable?"

They looked confused. "Well, he's a god," they said, as if this was a justifiable excuse. For Hermione, it wasn't.

"But that's terrible! They shouldn't do that!" she said, scandalized. The Brits agreed.

"Well there is one benefit," Thalia pointed out.

"And what's that?" Ginny asked.

"Um, sometimes you get turned into a shrub that is almost crushed," Thalia said, earning a few glares, "and sometimes you're turned into a pine tree that protects the camp." The glares vanished.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Hermione grimaced, horrified. "I am so sorry."

"It's okay," Thalia nodded. "It all does sound a little nasty."

Hermione nodded. "Just because they're supreme beings doesn't mean they have to pull their power around like that, especially on their own children, whether directly or not!"

The Greeks smiled in appreciation, the Brits in admiration, and Ron leaned towards Harry and whispered, "I think she's starting on '_demigod rights_' now."

Harry bit back a laugh.

**We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."**

**"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.**

"At least one of them is sane," Hermione muttered, bringing an amused smile to everyone's faces.

**"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."**

"He'd change me back," Percy dismissed.

"How do you know?" Neville asked.

"Oh, Poseidon loves Percy very much," Annabeth said. "He would probably hunt Dionysus down and kill him if he hurt a hair on Percy's head."

Percy laughed. It sounded like something he'd do. He wouldn't be able to avenge him if it were a demigod or mortal, but a god? A different story. He remembered how his father had defended him on the Winter Solstice. He knew his father cared that deeply.

**"Mr. D—" Chiron warned.**

**"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose.**

Hermione's eyes narrowed. Ginny leaned over and whispered to her, "You'll get wrinkles from that Hermione. I don't think that a teenager should look like someone in their forties."

Hermione blushed while Ron and Harry, who had heard what Ginny said, turned red from suppressed laughter.

**Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."**

**Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.**

**He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.**

"You have to admit," Neville said. "That does sound cool."

Luna nodded in agreement while the others gave it a thought.

**Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."**

**We did. Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.**

**"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"**

**Just hearing the name made me shudder.**

**Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast.**

**But I didn't feel like lying.**

"Oh! There's a difference between Harry and Percy!" Ginny said triumphantly. The Brits burst into laughter, with George just grinning weakly, as the others looked confused and amused.

"And what's that?" Harry asked, his cheeks tinged in pink.

"Even when you're really troubled by something, you keep it to yourself and lie to us and say your fine," Ginny pointed out. "It's not all the time, but it IS most of the time. And this situation could be one of them."

Ron guffawed. "She's got you there, mate!"

Harry glared, but he had to admit it was true.

**"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."**

**"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."**

"Done? With what?" Harry asked, trying to stop blushing.

Perce laughed.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"This," Perce said.

**"Done ... with what?"**

Harry groaned and tried to tune of the laughter.

**"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"**

**I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.**

Grover looked sheepish at the looks he received from his friends.

**"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."**

**Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."**

**Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.**

**"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?"**

"He's catching on," Nico grinned. He'd heard about this quest, but never in detail.

**Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.**

**Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"**

**My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."**

**"I knew it," Grover said.**

**"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.**

**"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"**

**"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."**

"A lightning bolt?" Ron asked, confused. "What, did someone reach into the sky during a storm and wrench one down?"

The Greeks stared at him before collapsing into laughter. That had to be the silliest thing they'd ever heard.

"What is so funny?" Ron asked.

Nico gasped and pushed a giggling Rachel off his waist. "What kind on scenario is that?" he managed to ask before falling back into laughter. His comment made the others laugh harder.

"It was just a question," Ron said, but he couldn't help but grin. Looking back on it, it did sound pretty stupid. It was ten minutes before they were all in reading condition again since the Stolls would think about he comment and fall into the amusement again, dragging the rest along with them.

**I laughed nervously. "A what?"**

**"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."**

**"Oh."**

"Brilliant answer," Conner chuckled.

"Shut up!"

**"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."**

Everyone, including those who already knew this, gaped at the book. That Bolt was definitely dangerous.

"Well, I feel stupid," Ron said, shaking his head. That bit that Chiron said made a whole lot more sense, even if it sounded a little crazy.

**"And it's missing?"**

**"Stolen," Chiron said.**

**"By who?"**

**"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you."**

"WHAT?" The Brits and Rachel exclaimed.

"How did I not know this?" Rachel asked, looking put out. "Something as important as this — why didn't any of you tell me?"

"We thought you knew!" Annabeth exclaimed, looking embarrassed.

"And who was supposed to tell me?" Rachel asked dangerously.

All eyes turned to Percy who turned pink. "I forgot?"

"Urgh!" Rachel groaned. As the Oracle, it was important for her to know this. '_Oh, they tell me about the Fleece but NO, not the master bolt!_'

"But you didn't steal it, right?" Neville asked. Percy didn't seem like that sort of person.

"No, I didn't," Percy nodded.

**My mouth fell open.**

**"At least" — Chiron held up a hand — "that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: '_Mother Rhea always liked you best_,'**

"Are they for real?" Ron asked. He and his siblings occasionally got into arguments about who was the favorite child to different members of the family, but he couldn't imagine gods arguing about stuff like that.

"Pretty much," Rachel nodded. "Even demigods are like that, going on about who was the favorite child to the godly parent."

"And the gods do have a few favorites," Percy sighed, "but they aren't aloud to favor them much. It would cause an unbalance for them. I'm my dad's favorite son."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked, frowning. "If it causes an unbalance, why doesn't he choose you to be his favorite? Lack of siblings?"

Percy shook his head. "I have other siblings that aren't demigods," he said. "Cyclopes can be his children with nymphs. He's not supposed to have DEMIGODS, but other types of children are legal." Then he added mentally, '_Well, demigods are legal now_,' he thought to himself.

"That's a little strange," Neville commented.

"I know," Percy nodded. "And Dad told me I was his favorite son. After all I've done, I've made him really proud." Percy smiled at that.

**'_Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters_,' etcetera.**

"That sounds a like a more typical topic," Hermione muttered. "Both are horrible."

"Frankly, I think my dad can do more damage," Percy said.

"My dad controls lightning and the sky," Thalia objected. "He's more powerful."

"Yeah, but my dad can make hurricanes, and typhoons, and earthquakes, and floods — Zeus can make thunderstorms with lightning."

"My father can create hurricanes too!"

"Mine is the stormbringer, hence, your dad is treading on his territory."

"Oh, it's TERRITORY, now. Is it? I don't see your dad controlling a million watts of electric power!"

"No, but my father controls the seas! That's a really tough job! Have you seen the oceans and seas? They're huge!"

"So is the sky! It's hard to manage!"

"Yeah, but it's—"

"Oh, will you two stop it!" Nico snapped. "Yeah, we get it! Your fathers are powerful with the sky and the seas! You know, my father has to deal with the Underworld! Do you know how difficult that is for him? First he has to deal with his staff and many workers! Have you heard Charon and Thanatos argue about their pay? I've heard them go on until dad got a headache. Then he can't sleep because of all the damned screaming in Punishment! The same goes for me! I wake up with headaches in the morning!"

Percy and Thalia grimaced at the mention of Punishment. The memories of that place was not pleasant.

Nico continued. "He has to build more entrances for the build-up of souls running into the Underworld, supervise the judges, make an examination of every inch in Punishment, Asphodel, and Elysium, every three days. He has to make sure Cerberus is fed! He has to see that Persephone has whatever she wants! He has to make sure that the dead are in their place! He has to supervise all the riches going around to the mortals and to Olympus, and keep up with the shipments required! Plus, he barely gets any sleep! Why do you think he's so pale? Zeus and Poseidon get luxury. They get the easy parts! My dad is going insane with his job, yet he doesn't complain to anyone or argue about it!_ So — will — you — two — give — it — a — rest?_"

Nico sighed, took a sip of his drink, and rested his head on the back of the couch and smiled. "I needed to get that out. I feel much better now." He looked at Thalia and Percy who both looked a little sheepish. "Your dads argue about who's more powerful. Frankly, I think there are more important things than that. You can say your fathers have difficult jobs, but it's nothing compared to Hades."

Percy and Thalia exchanged embarrassed glances. "We're being childish, aren't we?" Thalia asked uncertainly.

"No, you're fighting our father's pointless verbal battles," Nico sighed. "Just leave it alone. They're the Big Three. The most powerful. End of story."

"He's right," Percy groaned, feeling ashamed. "We're sorry."

It was a long awkward silence before the reading started up again.

**Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon.**

"What a brother," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"You do it all the time," Ginny said, earning a scowl from Ron.

To keep his siblings from starting an argument, Perce continued reading, though he was in agreement with Ginny.

**Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly — that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."**

**"But I didn't—"**

**"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne.**

"Why would Dad want to do that?" Percy said, rolling his eyes. "He's happy with the seas. And his palace is much better than Zeus's." Then he remembered something. He said the next words in Greek, "_At least before it was destroyed_."

That had the Greek stifling laughter.

**The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."**

"That's not right," Ron scoffed. "You didn't know about any of the gods being real yet. Do they always jump to assumptions? Don't they do verification?"

"A bit rich coming from _you_," Ginny stated, remembering all the trouble Ron caused because he didn't get his facts straight. "You always jump to conclusions!"

"Whatever," Ron said, waving his hand. "The point it, don't you think they should interview him or something? Veritaserum, or anything!"

"This isn't the government, Ron," Perce said.

"Doesn't matter, he makes himself a point," Harry agreed. "I think they need proof before assumptions."

"A bit rich coming from _you_, too," Hermione pointed out. Harry rolled his eyes. "After all the assumptions you've made?"

"Hey, most of those were right!" Harry protested.

"Guys, we're reading," Annabeth interrupted. "Can you save this until later?"

The Brits looked sheepish.

**"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"**

"_Urgh!_ Percy, my dad already wants to kill you," Thalia groaned. "Don't give him a reason!"

"Sorry," Percy apologized.

"He'd kill you for just saying that?" Neville asked, his eyes wide.

"Yep."

"Wow, tough luck," Ron muttered.

**Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.**

**"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."**

"C-word?" Ron spluttered in surprise. "I didn't know there was such a thing."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

**"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.**

"That sounds more like Hermione's brain," Neville commented.

"Yeah, she would remember the questions," Ron agreed.

"I'm right here," Hermione said indignantly. Then she saw their expressions. "But I'll admit that's true. I would remember..."

**How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted.**

"Tough luck," Conner muttered.

**Chiron was waiting for an answer.**

**"Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"**

**"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.**

"It was Hera's idea, not Poseidon's," Annabeth scoffed. "She just made him the leader of it so she wouldn't look bad. You can ask Athena. She was there."

"Really?" Percy asked, surprised. "The stories I've read always say it was Dad."

"It wasn't just Poseidon, it was all the gods," Thalia reminded him. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hera who started it."

"Well, the records are in the library in the Athena cabin," Annabeth explained. "There were quite a few facts that Homer and other poets and writers got wrong. Mother took her time to write out the histories correctly and gave a copy to her children. She clearly states that Hera made the plot and convinced Poseidon to take up the mantle because Hades didn't want to."

"Why did she want Dad to do it?" Nico asked.

"He's Kronos and Rhea's oldest son," Annabeth said. "Technically, the highest power must go to the eldest son, but the Big Three drew lots to get their domains. Hades got the Underworld, though by seniority, he should have gotten the sky."

"I'm getting a headache from the history lesson," Travis said, clutching his head.

"Shut up," Nico said before turning back to Annabeth. "So what you're telling me is that my dad could have been the lord of the sky? What would that make me?"

"Lightning boy, maybe," Grover suggested. "Poseidon was the middle son, so his domain wouldn't have changed."

"Oh good, I like the sea," Percy said with relief.

"That would mean Dad would have gotten the Underworld," Thalia muttered, sounding horrified. "And I would have been -"

"Death Girl," Nico suggested helpfully. "Skull head. Death Breath. Corpse Breath. Goth girl. Emo chick. Ghoul—"

"Okay, it get it!" Thalia snapped, whacking him over the head. "Those names are horrible! Where do you get them?"

Nico frowned as he took another sip from his bottle. "That's what people call ME." Then he started to list them off. "'Death Boy', 'Skull head', 'Death Breath', 'Corpse Breath', 'Goth guy', 'Emo dude', 'Ghoul face', 'Zombie Dude', 'Death Freak', 'Grave Kisser', 'Necro-hugger', 'Demon spawn', 'Devil spawn', 'Piccolo diavolo' — that means small devil —, 'Ghost skin', 'Freak from Hell', 'Oddball—"

"Nico, stop it!" Everyone exclaimed, staring at him in shock.

He stared at them in surprise. "What?"

Everyone was silent for a minute before Harry spoke up. "You're joking, right?" he asked uncertainly. "People call you that?"

Nico nodded. "Yep. Most demigods do. Monsters as well. I hear most of them from Demeter, and she calls Dad those names too. Most are worse."

"And you're okay with that?" Ginny gaped, sounding disbelieving.

Nico gave it a thought and them shrugged. "No, I don't. But people don't care," he said in a matter-of-factly tone. "My father is the god of the Underworld and the dead. People fear and hate him. So in turn they fear and hate me. A few of my friends just use them as jokes, but they're not always pleasant to me. I'm used to hearing them. I just ignore the insult."

The demigods looked guilty. At least all of them had used one of those nicknames for Nico, only as a joke or to tease him. Looking at it, it was pretty insulting, and they hadn't realized that they were seriously hurting his feelings. Nico just blew it off because he didn't care. Most of the time.

"We're sorry," Grover said, feeling all the tension and guilt in the room. "Really, Nico, we are."

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Nico said, taking a sip of the drink everyone had forgotten he still had. "I'm used to it. Besides, I've called you all nicknames too."

"Not as many as yours," Travis pointed out.

Nico rolled his eyes and took another sip of Limoncello. Suddenly, everyone but Percy started to suspect that Nico was slightly intoxicated. He looked normal, but he was blowing everything off as well as having random outbursts...

"Nico, perhaps you should stop drinking that," Luna suggested, a hint of concern in her voice. Percy rolled his eyes. Unlike the others, he knew it wasn't the drink that was making Nico act this way.

"I'm fine, Luna," Nico said evenly. "I'm not drunk. Trust me, when I'm drunk, you'll know."

'I think we already do,' a majority of the room thought, but they didn't say it aloud. Nico and Percy exchanged secretive glances. They both knew what the others suspected, but they also knew they were wrong. Percy just realized he had a lot of explaining to do for the poor guy.

"Where were we in the book again?" Nico asked.

"The gods trapping Zeus in a net," Perce replied.

**Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along — the proverbial last straw."**

**"But I'm just a kid!"**

**"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"**

**"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon — my dad — he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"**

**Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style.**

"Nope," Nico said. "That job belongs to Hermes. He's the god of thieves."

"Did Hermes steal it?" Neville asked, eyeing Nico's drink warily.

"No," Percy said. He saw how a few people eyed Nico and sighed softly. Even Nico didn't fully understand why they were doing this. That drink was an excuse...

**But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"**

"Destructive," Harry said. "Heart-wrenching. Horrifying." He would know.

"Those are much better words than what I used," Percy sighed.

**"Bad?" I guessed.**

"Yeah, mine give you a bigger picture," Harry agreed.

**"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."**

**"Bad," I repeated.**

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Annabeth exclaimed, causing everyone else to laugh. Percy blushed.

**"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."**

**It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.**

"Why?" Neville asked.

"It doesn't rain on us unless we want it too," Grover explained. "99% of the time it never rains."

"Wow," Neville said. "Cool."

**I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious.**

**"So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus."**

**"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"**

**"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"**

**"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."**

**"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"**

**"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."**

**I swallowed. "Good reason."**

"Yeah, if I'd found out before, I would have raced to the hills," Percy groaned.

"It was that bad?" Hermione gaped.

"Pretty much."

**"You agree then?"**

**I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.**

**Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.**

"Sorry, dude."

"It's okay, G-man."

**"All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."**

**"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."**

"'Assuming you're still sane,'?" Ron said. "What kind of world do you live in?"

"One where Mr. D must have great influence," Conner snorted.

**Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trap door. I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.**

**The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.**

"I hate snakes," Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville said together.

"Especially Nagini," Neville said.

"And the other pet," Ginny said grimly, thinking about Slytherin's monster.

The Greeks looked confused. "What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"A long story," the Brits said sadly.

**I held my breath and climbed.**

**The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHACA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things — severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters.**

"Ew, you guys keep stuff like that?" Ginny grimaced. "As souvenirs?"

"Pretty much," Percy nodded.

"Huh," George said thoughtfully. "And I thought having cockroach legs, rat brains, crocodile hearts, lizard eyes, and bat wings were disgusting enough."

"Ew!" Rachel gagged. "What do you use that for?"

"Potions," Perce said. "They taste horrible most of the time."

"You drink it?" Nico gasped.

"Yes."

The Greeks looked green. "Gross!" Conner yelped. "Never give me a potion! Especially with _cockroach legs_!" The others were nodding and gagging in agreement. It was funny to watch, but the Brits had to agree with them.

**A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.**

**By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy.**

"You keep a dead person up there?" Ron squeaked, his voice so high you would have thought he was talking like a mouse.

"Used to keep a dead person," Rachel corrected. "She's not there anymore. She — relocated." 'Yeah, relocated the Oracle inside me,' Rachel thought.

**Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.**

"She used to give me the creeps," Travis and Conner said at the same time.

"I know what you mean," Percy and Annabeth shivered, having had to go to her for prophecies.

**Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth.**

"Come again?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

Perce stared at the book with wide eyes, "_It's says 'Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth_.' Yes, I read that correctly."

"Is she an inferius?" Luna asked.

"No, she was the old Oracle," Rachel said. "I'm the new one. And I don't turn into a mummy, thank the gods."

"What's an Inferius?" Annabeth asked.

"Reanimated corpse," Nico said after taking another sip of his 'lemon liquor'. Then he froze. "I shouldn't have said that."

The Brits stared at him. "How you know about that?" Hermione asked.

Nico blushed. "Reading," he said. "Dad had a huge library in the Underworld. I go there for studies. I read about them a long time ago and remember it because it was similar to what I can do."

"You can reanimate the dead?" the Brits asked, now looking wary of him.

"Um, duh! Son of Hades," Nico said, like that should have been obvious. "Most of the time it's just skeletons, not the complete body."

"Can we change the subject before my stomach gets weak?" Neville asked, looking green. Everyone nodded and Perce dived back into the book as quickly as he could.

**A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap door, but it slammed shut.**

"I hate it when that happens," Percy sighed.

**Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask._**

"Why is she like that?" Ginny asked. "I mean, Rachel isn't like that."

Rachel, Nico, and Percy all exchanged silent messages to each other just by looking at one another. They knew why...

"I don't know," Annabeth said, sounding disgruntled. "She was cursed, but I don't know the reasons behind it all. No one told me. All I know was when the curse was broken, Rachel began to the next Oracle."

"This makes Trelawney normal," Ron muttered to Harry.

**I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.**

"I might have done the same thing," everyone muttered.

**But I forced myself to take a deep breath.**

**The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either.**

**I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"**

**The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.**

"You saw them?" Annabeth grimaced.

**My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist. Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned_.**

"A god turned?" Ron asked. "Like switching sides?"

"Not permanently," Annabeth muttered softly.

**His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned_.**

"That's good," Luna said.

**The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: _You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend_.**

"Not so good," Hermione whispered.

**Finally, Eddie, our building superior, delivered the worst line of all: _And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end_.**

So, wait a minute," Neville spoke up. "You go on a quest to fail? What kind of quest is that?"

"Our prophecies are like riddles," Rachel said. "Nothing is what it seems with them. They aren't straightforward. They just give an impression of what could happen."

"The idea is not to try and change them," Nico added. "That's so strange with prophecies. You hear them, and then try to stop them, but that just puts them into motion." He took a gulp of 'lemon liquor'. "Sometimes I wonder if prophecies were made to fulfill themselves. You try to escape, but apparently that's what you were supposed to do in the first place, and then it creeps up on you; or maybe you weren't supposed to run and it still does. There's no winning!"

Annabeth looked impressed. "You know, that is very true," she admitted. "No matter what you do, the prophecies always manage to win out."

"That sucks," Conner nodded.

"You're telling me," Harry sighed, thinking of another prophecy he had heard.

**The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"**

**The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.**

**I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.**

**My audience with the Oracle was over.**

"Rachel, do you tell anyone anything about their quests afterwards?" Hermione asked.

"No, I don't," Rachel said. "I don't know the outcome, I just possess the spirit of Apollo's Oracle. Plus, as soon as I make one, I black out for a few hours, so it's impossible because most of the times, I don't even remember what prophecy I've made until someone tells me."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

**"Well?" Chiron asked me.**

**I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."**

**Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"**

**"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."**

**My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She ... she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."**

**"I knew it," Grover said.**

**Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"**

**I didn't want to tell him.**

**What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many. And the last line — I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail.**

**How could I confess that?**

"Yeah, that's kind of hard to slip into a conversation," Travis agreed.

**"No," I said. "That's about it."**

"Liar!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

**He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."**

"Don't I know know it," Grover, Annabeth and Percy said together.

**I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.**

**"Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"**

**"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"**

**"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.**

**"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."**

"Whoa, whoa!" Nico exclaimed, rising to his feet in shock. "Hold — the — phone!"

"What kind of saying is 'hold the phone?'" Ron muttered to Hermione but she waved him silent as Nico continued talking.

"Are you blaming my dad for this!" He glared at Percy.

"Well..." Percy said nervously. "All the arrows pointed to him."

"Because you wanted it to!" Nico yelled. "My father doesn't want a war! That would increase the population in the Underworld! That's the LAST thing he needs right now! Are you people blind? Are you stupid?"

"No, Nico, we're not," Thalia protested. "They just thought—"

"They just thought that my father would want to rip apart the world like that?" Nico guessed. "You guys already threw my father and me out of the family a long time ago. You accuse us of being evil. What are you, self-righteous!"

Luna stood up and yanked the 'lemon liquor' out of Nico's hand. "I think that's enough for you," she said firmly. "The nargles will take a chance to enter your head if you carry on like this."

Nico was so confused, he forgot why he was angry. "What?" he asked, staring at her.

Rachel and Thalia took this as a chance to tug Nico back into his seat.

"I'm sorry, Nico," Percy said quickly. "I didn't know. None of us did. And Hades was the only major god in the west. It was the most obvious."

Nico said there, fuming. The shadows around the room started to seep towards him in a terrifying manner. Everyone watched in shock as their own shadows crept up into Nico's. Rachel's jaw dropped. As the clear-sighted mortal, she saw what was happening for what it was, but everyone else was focused on the shadows.

Nico's eyes were burning brilliant black, with little tendrils of smoke crawling out from them like snakes. The shadows seemed to double and thicken around him, lighting his body with a black aura more terrifying than the Aura of Death. He looked much older, like 15. This was too unnatural.

'_Calm him down_,' she heard Apollo's voice whisper in her head. '_Before he kills you guys_.'

"Nico," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're sorry. We really are. Please stop that."

Nico looked at her and the blackness went out. "Stop what?" he asked in a bitter voice. "I'm not doing anything."

Rachel was about to speak when she heard a woman's voice in her head. '_He doesn't know he's doing it_,' the woman said. '_He never does. Hades is trying to control it, but it'll start to get out of hand if you don't calm him down_.'

Rachel nodded her head slightly. "I know you're upset," she said gently. "Any one of us would be. But being angry about it isn't going to help anything. What's done is done, it's all in the past. Hades was proven innocent. We learned our mistake. Please, don't be mad."

Nico stared at her suspiciously. Then suddenly his eyes snapped shut and he's face went blank. Rachel could sense someone else there with him.

'_Is she talking to him?_' Rachel thought.

'_Soothing his emotions_,' Apollo replied, a hint of relief in his voice. '_Ah, she's successful_.'

Nico opened his eyes and all the shadows returned to their original place. His aura went back to normal and he looked like a 13-years-old again, not 15-years-old.

"Are you feeling better?" Rachel asked.

He nodded his head and promised himself not to speak again for the rest of the chapter... even if he really wanted to.

Percy gave Rachel a questioning look. Her non-verbal reply alerted him of Apollo's involvement.

"What just happened?" Harry asked. He had taken out his wand defensively. "Why was it getting dark in here?"

"Accidental power usage," Rachel said. She and the other demigods were eyeing Nico carefully. Even Grover knew something was wrong. Nico's emotions were very vague. "It happens to all of us. Right Nico?"

Nico nodded glumly.

"_Can you not do that again?_" Conner asked in Greek. "_That reminded me of the Hades cabin at Camp. I got nightmares_."

"I won't do it again," Nico said softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." '_Oh great, I just broke my promise_,' he mentally grumbled.

Percy tried to take his mind off it. "Don't worry about it, man," he said. "There was this one time I got so mad that I caused an earthquake. Bad news was that the parking lot got screwed up. Good news was that there was no school for a week."

Nico couldn't help but smile. It made him look so normal that you wouldn't have thought he'd just pulled a Terror Attack.

"Should I continue, or..." Perce asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, read," Thalia said. She looked at Nico with wonder. It looked like the scrawny kid had more power than she had thought he did.

It scared her.

**I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."**

**Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."**

'_No, he's not_,' Nico thought defensively. Everyone saw him scowl and sighed.

**A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"**

At this, Nico managed a laugh. His father may not have been the most liked god, but people's reaction to him was hilarious sometimes.

"I'm glad I can cheer you up," Grover said, blushing as he remembered how stupid he must have looked.

**"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."**

"Okay, now I'm starting to see the picture here. She would only go after you because of Dad," Nico said. Then he clamped his hand over his mouth, just remembering he wasn't supposed to talk.

"He was framed," Annabeth said. "We're sorry."

Nico nodded, understanding the situation better. He was beginning to think his emotions had him going over the edge. It happened a few times before in the Underworld when he was stressed. It would be worse if he HAD been drunk. And there were no obsidian dummies for him to destroy here.

"Wait, who is behind it?" Neville asked.

"We'll find out," Conner said in a mysterious voice.

"Can't we just skip to the back of the book?" Ron asked wearily.

Hermione slapped him over the head. "No, Ron, that would be losing the point of reading the book in the first place," she said sternly. "And I wish you would stop doing that with your books."

"They get boring," Ron protested, but he shut up when she glared at him. Everyone else laughed.

**"Yes, but — but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon..."**

**"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."**

"It was HIM, wasn't it?" Nico asked, referring to Luke as a spy. Those who were there nodded.

The Brits looked mystified. "Who?"

No answer.

**"Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."**

**"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."**

"It wasn't in Maine," Annabeth said in an amused voice.

"You can't blame me for trying," Grover grinned sheepishly.

**"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to under stand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."**

"And we revealed the truth," Percy said, glancing at Nico.

Nico sighed exasperatedly. "I give up being mad at you," he said grudgingly. "It's in the past, right?"

Everyone exhaled in relief. "Right." Hopefully he wouldn't go all freaky again.

**A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.**

**I was ready to take him on.**

"He wasn't trying to kill me," Percy said. "He was just pissed off."

"At what?" Harry asked.

"You'll see."

**Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld ...**

**Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god.**

"At least you remembered that," Thalia muttered. "A dangerous god too."

"They're all dangerous," Annabeth said. "Even the gentle ones can be dangerous when they want to be."

"There are gentle gods?" Travis and Conner asked incredulously.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the little discussion.

**Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.**

"That's not healthy," Luna said in a matter-of-factly voice that could have gone with 'The sky is blue'.

"They're okay for satyrs," Grover replied.

**The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This was suicide.**

**"Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."**

"Ta!" Nico chuckled. "Like any of the gods would want to go down there. Even Demeter gets freaked out."

"Then why do you live there?" George asked.

"It's cozy," Nico replied, only saying that to see their reaction. On the contrary, it was a little depressing.

"Riiiiiiiiiiight," everyone said in disbelief."

Nico grinned at them. Ron muttered to Harry and Ginny, "I think that drink got to his head."

"Or maybe he's just messing with us," Harry whispered back, noting the glum look Nico had spoken with.

**"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said.**

"Truer words have never been spoken," Hermione and Ginny said, looking expectantly at Harry and Ron.

The two guys rolled their eyes.

"Give us a break, will you?" Harry sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"No," Ginny teased, reaching up his hand to ruffle his hair into a more unruly mess — if that was possible.

"Hey!" Harry protested, trying to comb his hair down with no success.

**"Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades — and I imagine Poseidon does — they couldn't retrieve the bolt them selves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"**

"He's saying you're being used?" Hermione asked in a dangerously calm voice. "Like slaves?"

"Here we go," Harry and Ron said in a resigned voice.

"She's at it again," Neville and George added.

"We should have seen it coming," Ginny sighed, shaking her head.

Hermione glared at them.

"What are you talking about?" Thalia asked.

"Hermione is against slavery," Harry explained for Hermione started talking about S.P.E.W to the Greeks. "I guess she sees it as unfair that the gods treat you like personal slaves to do work for them."

Hermione nodded.

"Why do you think we're born?" Conner asked. "Uh, we can do what gods can't. They envy us on that point."

"And we have a choice on whether we work for them or not," Travis said. "We're free to do whatever we want, we just choose to do labors for our parents because they need us to."

Everyone gaped at them. "What?" the Stolls asked, puzzled.

"When did you two get smart?" Thalia asked.

The Stolls groaned. "Again, we're children of HERMES," Travis said slowly. "God of Thieves, of lies, of cheats. Do you think we do all that just by chance? We NEED to have a BRAIN, you know. There's a reason they say Hermes is one of the cleverer gods next to Athena!"

"Yeah, we may not be book smart, but we're street smart," Conner added. "You need to have a brain to survive. How do you think we lived this long?"

No one had an answer for that.

**"You're saying I'm being used."**

"Please don't start, Hermione," Ron begged as Hermione opened her mouth. She sighed.

**"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."**

**My dad needs me.**

**Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.**

The demigods looked depressed. They felt like that sometimes, but the gods had their reasons and laws.

**I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"**

**"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too."**

"Does he mean recently?" Ron asked. "Like, does he go up there for brunch to have a small chat?"

"Um, no," Annabeth said, but then she caught on to what he meant. "Actually, the old Oracle only moved to give prophecies. She didn't chat with anyone... He could have gotten a prophecy of course," she thought about the First Great Prophecy, "but other than that, she never spoke."

"So why would he have said 'I've spoken to the Oracle, too'?" Ron inquired. "Wouldn't that have indicated a conversation?"

"Um," Annabeth said. "Rachel?"

"I'm not sure," Rachel said, thinking hard. "A prophecy could be a given... or maybe he was just saying he had an interaction with her..."

"You surprise me sometimes," Hermione said, looked at Ron. He smiled at her.

"Maybe it was just a prophecy," Percy said. "And that might have been a really long time ago. I know _I_ thought he meant a prophecy, but he isn't always clear."

"Sharp memory Chiron has," Neville said, impressed.

**I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.**

**"So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."**

**"Check," Chiron said.**

**"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."**

**"Check."**

**"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."**

**"That's about right."**

**I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.**

**"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.**

"No luck, G-man," Percy grinned as everyone else laughed.

"Worth a shot," Grover smiled.

**"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you.**

**"Oh ..." He shifted his hooves. "No ... it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well..."**

**He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."**

**I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.**

Grover smiled at that. He remembered the relief radiating off of Percy that day. It had made him feel optimistic about the quest.

**"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."**

**"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."**

**"Where?"**

**Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."**

"Los Angeles?" Hermione asked in surprise. "As in Hollywood?"

"All of Los Angeles," Nico grinned. "Some people think show business is evil. Well, the evil part belief started with the Underworld forming right underneath it. The Underworld is actually bigger than the city itself, but that's its central location."

"Damn!" Conner and Travis said in shock.

"And whenever Dad gets seriously angry, the Underworld tremors," Nico continued. "That's why Los Angeles, and lots of the Eastern boarder, gets earthquakes. The rest are caused by other gods, like Poseidon and Gaea and Geb—" Nico turned pale and stopped talking.

"Who's Geb?" Hermione asked.

"No one," Nico said, a little too quickly. Everyone turned to Annabeth.

"I don't know," she said. Everyone looked back at Nico.

"I really need to stop drinking," he murmured to himself, hoping they would believe he said what he had out of drunkenness. Then he saw them staring. "It's nothing, you guys. Really."

They didn't believe him.

**"Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane—"**

"Seriously, Percy, you're suicidal!" Thalia exclaimed. "Even Nico wouldn't be stupid enough to get on a plane!"

"Oh, gee, thanks," Nico said, looking put off.

"Not what I meant," she groaned.

"I didn't know!" Percy said, sounding irritated.

"Duh!" Nico and Thalia said at the same time. "Brush up on your facts so you wouldn't be so ignorant!" They looked at each other in surprise.

"That was disturbing," George muttered to Perce, who grinned and turned back to the book.

**"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"**

**I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.**

Everyone winced.

**"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."**

"I'm liking the gods less," Ron mumbled.

**Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.**

"Especially him," he added. Thalia suppressed a snort.

**"Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."**

**"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."**

Everyone glanced at Annabeth. She blushed.

**"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"**

**The air shimmered behind Chiron.**

**Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.**

**"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."**

"Over-confident," Percy teased.

"Shut up," Annabeth said playfully, nudging him in the ribs.

**"If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"**

"And the nicknames begin," Conner grinned. Annabeth and Percy rolled their eyes.

**Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"**

**The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.**

**"A trio," I said. "That'll work."**

"Every group has a trio," Travis nodded. "There's Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Then sometimes it's Percy, Thalia, and Nico. Even the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Three virgin goddesses: Hestia, Athena, and Artemis. There are three Fates and three furies—"

"Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos," Annabeth put in.

"And Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera," Nico added.

"Right," Travis nodded. "At camp there's me, Conner, and Bette. Then there's Katie, Jeremy, and Miranda. There's also Will, Kayla, and Lexi."

"You have a lot trios," Ginny said. "Here we have Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Then there's Neville, Luna, and me. There's Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, yuck!" Harry and Ron laughed. "Myself, Tacita, and Narelle. Then there's Lee, George and—" she cut off and glanced at George who had paled slightly. "But that's not important. Back to the story."

**"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."**

**Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.**

**"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."**

"I'm finished," Perce said, bookmarking the page. "So, we're reading the rest tomorrow?"

"Yes," Rachel nodded, and we're not letting a certain someone drink through it."

All eyes turned to Nico, whose white face tinged with pink.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Everyone got to their feet as Rachel took away the book from Perce and picked up the box of books. "I'll be right back," she said. "Wait here."

Rachel hurried up the staircase towards her room. The others remained in the living room. Neville walked over to one of the windows and peered up at the sky. It was purple and blue. As he watched, it turned red and orange.

"Guys, look at this," he said.

"What is it, Neville?" Ginny asked, walking over to his side.

"It's the sky," he said. "It keeps changing color all the time. One minute was violet and indigo, the now it's this."

Everyone came to peer outside the window. As they watched, the sunset orange and daffodil yellow sky shifted and turned sea green and mint green.

"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed. They continued to watch as it then turned sky blue and lavender.

"How does it do that?" Annabeth gasped.

"Look up there!" Luna said, pointing further up in the sky. "There's a sun, a moon, and you can see stars."

True enough, there was the golden sun and silver moon. Dotting the colorful sky above were bright twinkling stars that you'd never see on earth, confirming that they themselves were no longer on their own planet.

"This place is called Star," Luna said dreamily. "Do you think we might be on a star?"

"That's ridiculous," Hermione said, shaking her head. "A star is a massive ball of burning gas in the universe, Luna. It wouldn't be possible for us to be on a star. Our sun is a star, and everyone knows that you can't survive on that surface. You'd burn up and die. It's just not possible."

Luna frowned.

Travis and Conner went to stand by Luna's side. "Hey, she was just making a suggestion," Conner defended. "And it could be a possibility! Gods create stars in the old days. Maybe this could be a special one. If Apollo's involved, then it could be possible."

"He's right," they heard Rachel say from behind them. "Not everything has a logical explanation. Not with the gods. They can defy the ordinary. For all we know, we really could be on a star. Or a different planet. A different galaxy. Who knows?" She smiled at Luna. Then she turned to Hermione. "Don't dismiss something because you can't explain it. Just because you don't believe it, doesn't mean it's not real."

Luna beamed at Rachel. What she said was similar to what her father liked to tell her when other people teased her for her beliefs. She turned to smile at the Stolls who had defended her. It was unexpected, but nice.

Hermione turned red with shame. "I'm sorry, Luna," she said quietly.

"It's okay," Luna said, forgiving her.

"So, where do we go now?" Perce asked. "I think it's safe to say that it's lunchtime. And we're all hungry."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, we are," he muttered. Then his stomach growled loudly. "Or maybe it's mostly me."

Everyone laughed. Then Ginny spoke up. "Let's go to the kitchen first and make lunch," she suggested. "I don't think we should explore this place on an empty stomach."

"Too true," Hermione said, nodding. "Ron would complain the whole time."

Everyone laughed again as Ron started grumbling.

"Okay then," Rachel agreed. "We go the the kitchens first. We eat, and then we explore. Deal?"

"Deal." The others agreed.

Everyone went out into the hallway. Percy grabbed Nico's arm by the doorway and pulled him back into the room.

"What?" Nico asked, looking at him uncertainly.

"You do know what you were drinking, right?" Percy asked quietly. "It wasn't complete alcohol. Apollo told me," he added when he saw Nico's confused expression.

"The Tonic," Nico replied. "I know what it was. It can only thrive with alcohol to sustain it. Dad doesn't want me to take it, but recently my powers are going haywire. He says it has to do with 'teenage years'." Nico shivered at the thought.

"Is there any other solutions than that drink?" Percy asked.

"Rum and raisin ice-cream?" Nico suggested, earning a scowl. "It needs any sort of alcoholic substance. Rum, bitters, puncheon, wine, beer — anything. You can try the alcoholic root beer. That's what Dad gives me."

"Why is it necessary?" Percy asked. "I got along fine without any help of a tonic."

"You're different, Percy," Nico said sadly. "I was born in the 1930's and stopped aging in the 1940's after World War II. That's like approximately six to seven decades. My body didn't register any aging because I didn't. But lately, my powers have been acting up. Dad says that they are getting too powerful, and that physically, I am too young to handle it. The tonic keeps my powers in check. Most of time if I take it regularly. The alcohol works as a preserver. It keeps the tonic from wearing off quickly. I have to take it every day or something bad will happen."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Percy asked, shocked. "We could have gone to the Apollo and Hecate cabins to work something out."

"It was a personal matter," Nico said, looking sad. "And I was ashamed of it. I still am. It makes me more of a freak."

"You're not a freak," Percy protested. "You just have a problem."

Nico managed a grin. "Yeah, a drinking problem," he joked.

"How bad could it get?" Percy asked as the headed out the door towards the retreating group.

Nico grimaced. "Let's just say that if my powers run wild, they will drain me," Nico said slowly. "My body would weaken, my heart would stop, and the hellfire would burn me to dust."

Percy came to a halt. "How do you know that?" he asked in a deadened whisper.

Nico looked back at him gravely. "I'm not the first child of Hades to experience this, Percy," he said softly. "Just leave it at that."

* * *

Vena slumped against the door to front yard with relief. She looked up at the Iris-message in front of her.

"Thank you, Hades," she said. "Don't worry, I'll see that he's okay."

The god of the dead nodded. "You'd better," he said, but his voice lacked its usual darkness. Hades could never bring himself to be mad at the minor primordial. He ran his white hand through his black hair. "How is he?"

"He didn't get enough tonic in his system, but it was enough so he didn't cause any explosions," Vena said evenly. "I don't think it would do well for all of them to die know. Your son is almost as unpredictable as Percy."

Hades smiled grimly. "I should take the blame for that," he said. "I always did have the dark temper of the family." He frowned at Vena. "I don't want to lose him. I already lost his mother. And if he were to find out about Bianca's rebirth... Just keep him safe."

"You have my word," Vena said. "Cross my heart." She formed a little "X" above her left breast. It glowed white like stars before disappearing. "I should go check up on them. I'll bet they're hungry."

Hades nodded. "Thank you, Venaurora," he said. Then he smiled. "I didn't think he would be that defensive."

Vena giggled. "Just like you in the early days, yes?" she said. "Goodbye, Riches. Say hello to Sephie for me."

Hades smiled and nodded before the Iris-message disappeared. Vena sighed and reached out her senses to see the readers. She need to find a different way to give the boy his tonic. She had to figure it out fast before his unknown curse killed him.

* * *

**Thanks go to all who reviewed. You guys are awesome! :D**

**So, for the last chapter, I see quite a few of you were upset about Vena's little foretelling of the future. Just to clear a few things up, yes, I know that Percy refused immortality for Annabeth. I'm aware of this. This reading is for the wizards and demigods to get to know each other. When I'm done with all of it, I'm going to write the actual story. This prophecy has a bit of a connection to that. It will be a long way before then, so don't worry, they are together and happy. Until that story comes up. I'll explain bits and pieces later on, but that's it.**

**The story later on is sort of an AU.  
**

**To Sakra: Thanks, and that would be 10 points to _Slytherin_. Yes, I'm a Slytherin, sorted by Pottermore. I was actually hoping to go there anyway, so I was thrilled. And I guess Hermione didn't want to waste time on a pillow-fight when they had a book to read. As the for the ending, it was supposed to be vague in the beginning, but I decided to add a tiny bit more detail.**

**To Taka: Yeah, I've always found the two sets of trios to be quite alike, though I sometimes think that Percy is a mix between Harry and Ron too. And as for the Poseidon reveal, I didn't know how to write that, so I took my best shot and ended up having Ron identifying him as Porpoise. I hope Poseidon doesn't mind.**

**To SeanHicks4: Yeah, the ending of the whole reading process would be something like an AU.**

**To teanotes: Vena's prophecy is something of a mystery to the storyline right now, though I know what I've planned out. It will not happen during the reading, so no one panic. Percy and Annabeth are the happy couple. For now. And as for George, he was my favorite twin from book one. I loved Fred too, but George was my favorite. When Fred died, I was in mourning. If George had died, I might have followed him.**

**To anawesomeunicorn: As I said before, it was just a consideration, but I honestly don't think Nico and Thalia would come together in this reading session. I have mentioned in a previous chapter that they are non-romantics, so you don't have to worry. I wouldn't bother little brother with something like that. And yes, I see him as a little brother.**

**To lmao234: Well, I'm still speculating on whether to add HoO, but I'm sticking to the two series I have now. But I have mentioned Jason before, so characters from that series may come up in discussion.**

**To a1993: Well no, Vena is actually OC but she was inspired by an actual character from Greek myth. They have a connection.**

**To lunalovegood0628: Thank you for that. Now, to list the reasons...that would be quite a few. Let's see... Well, for Annabeth, she ran away when she was seven because her father and step-mother disapproved of her bringing dangers to the family (monsters). Her step-mother didn't like her and her father sort of went along with it and eventually left. When later on when she came back, it happened all over again. I think she was 10 at that part. Does it count when she ran away on SOM because of the dreams at camp? Never mind. Um, for Thalia, should I include Jason for this? I know that Thalia and her mother didn't get along, her mother being a drunk and all. Then she only stayed around longer after Jason's birth but then Hera took him and Thalia couldn't stand how her mother didn't seem to care about it, so she left. As for Luke, well, that would be the tricky bit. I know that he was freaked out by his mother's crazed prophecies. He used to hide from her when they happened. I think he was nine when he ran away. I remember something about May telling Percy and Nico that Luke left to protect her from monsters, but I still wonder if that was true because she's crazy. Okay, not a good explanation, but it's all I got.**

**To JGS39: Well, hopefully when "I'm Fred, he's George" joke comes up, George would be strong enough to face it. It's Fred's death I'm really worried about. I've definitely compared that to Pollux. And I know that Castor dies, but to me that's starting to get out for some reason. In myth, Castor dies. In Percy Jackson, Castor dies. In the Hunger Games, Castor dies. Why is it that Castor must always die? I have a Geography teacher named Castor and he's cool. I don't want him to die! I hope he isn't related to anyone named Pollux. And hints of Thalico? Where? I don't remember writing a scene with that. I mean, I ship those two in other stories, but I didn't see any here. My bad.**

**To Wolf's Willow: It's okay about the rant. I actually saw this one before that, so I was confused. And people always speculate who Vena is. Now, I'll repeat what I think I said before, she's a little OC, so she's not exactly like any Greek deities, but she's inspired by two of them. Try and guess who the two are. One person actually got one of them before in a previous chapter, but I'm not saying which.**

**Okay, done with all that. There's a trio up there that I want to focus on Will, Kayla, and Lexi. I wrote a story on a different site before for a writing competition and I got the gold trophy! Yes! Anyway, I'm not bringing them into the story here, but they are actually import figures setting around Conner and Travis. They are connected to the AU story. Just giving a heads up.****  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	14. Exploration of Star

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.**

**First Note: This isn't a chapter where they're reading. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but I don't want my characters to be stuck reading all day. Nearly half of them are ADHD after all. They can't stand down for too long. They need to live. They may only be characters, but they have other things to do in their lives — like eat.**

**In this chapter, it will show what they do for the rest of the day, but I promise that the next chapter will be "I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus".**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Exploration of Star**

* * *

Standing in a close group kept the demigods and wizards safe from getting lost.

Percy was reeling from his conversation with Nico and every now and again he would glance at him with concern in his eyes. There was so much about him that he didn't know. What other secrets was Nico holding from all of them? He never knew Nico loved going to Japan, or that he spoke Italian and Japanese, though he admitted he should have seen the Italian coming. His mother was from Italy, after all. Percy never even knew Nico drank alcohol. In Percy's eyes, Nico was still somewhat of a little child, despite Nico only being a few inches shorter than him.

What else was there to know? Did he travel in time at one point in his life? Did he discover a secret society they never knew about? Did he have a girlfriend? What else was there to know?

Looking at the boy, Percy started to register the differences between the modern Nico and the one he had first met.

Other than the huge personality changes, Nico's appearance was the most prominent. His once silky brown hair had darkened to near black, and it was drier and messy. His once olive skin was albino pale and sickly. His cheerful brown eyes were almost deadly black. He had a look between twelve and fifteen. Not that he looked in between those ages, but sometimes Nico looked like a twelve year old boy, and other times he looked older. It was like he was shifting between ages, like he didn't know which age he should really be. His voice and attitude shifted the same way. It made him twice as mysterious as before.

And not to mention his powers were getting out of control.

As far as Percy knew, Nico practiced his powers more than his combat-skills. He never had to go to school, but he was still home-schooled in the Underworld. He had extra time to practice his powers. Percy noted that Nico was powerful, almost more powerful than him in practicing his inherited powers, but Percy had to admit that Nico was well trained in them. It made him wonder if Nico ever used his powers frequently in the 1940s.

"So, where is the kitchen?" Conner asked.

A sudden cracking sound was heard on their left and everyone turned to see a new glass map appear on the wall.

"Ask and you shall be answered," Travis snickered.

**~o~**

The kitchen had not changed from the last time Percy and Harry had been there. Everyone marveled at the beauty of the room and walked around, examining the appliances. Luna started giggling when she saw the refrigerators.

"What is it, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"It's this note," she said, pulling it off the refrigerator. Harry recognized it and groaned. "_'__**To the demigods, satyr, and Oracle of Camp Half-Blood, and wizards and witches of Hogwarts, welcome to my kitchen. I am sure that Apollo has said you are in Stars, my home. I do wish you all to be comfortable, so feel free to take what you want from here. You are my guests, and I hope to meet you soon. And no, Mr. Potter, the food is not poisoned. But I am sure that Mr. Alastor Moody would have been proud that you have come to that conclusion. The best to you, and constant vigilance, V.V.A**_.'"

The Brits started laughing at the red-faced Harry Potter. He glared at Ron and Hermione, but only Ron shut up.

"Who's Alastor Moody?" Annabeth smirked.

"A paranoid friend of ours," Ron chuckled. "I wonder what that would suggest about Harry…"

"I'm not paranoid," Harry grumbled.

Everyone laughed at him. Ginny smiled and rolled her eyes. "Of course, you're not," she said dismissively. Harry pouted.

"So, what are we going to eat?" Conner asked. "I guess we would have to make the food ourselves."

"What do you suggest then, little brother?" Travis asked.

"Hmm," Conner pondered. "Ooo! I got one! Stew beef and mashed potatoes with fried rice, onion rings, and celery on the side."

"That's good," Travis nodded. "Or we can have garden pizza, meat-lovers pizza, maybe Hawaiian... You can still have the mashed potatoes on the side but I would prefer stew lamb. That would be better."

"Yeah, for that we could use some Oregano, maybe dried basil, red chili powder, grated Mozzarella cheese or Parmesan cheese—"

"And we would definitely need tomato sauce and thinly sliced mushrooms. And pepperoni—"

"Excuse me," Annabeth interrupted.

The Stolls looked at her in surprise. "Yeah?" they asked.

"Since when do you two know how to cook?" she asked.

Travis frowned at her. "We've _always_ known how to cook," he said slowly.

"We used to watch the cooking channel as kids," Conner added.

Annabeth blinked. "I never knew that," she muttered.

"Neither did we," the rest of the Greeks muttered.

The Stolls frowned. "Our mom wasn't the greatest cook," Travis explained. "Often we'd get sick from her cooking and eventually we got tired of take-out."

"We had to take matters into our own hands." Conner nodded gravely.

That seemed to surprise everyone, including the people who didn't know the Stoll brothers. The demigods had never pegged the two brothers to be capable of cooking, but it wasn't like anyone at camp cooked anything. It was always the nymphs who took care of the food. No one would eat anything made by a child of Hermes, not even if it tasted good.

"Do you want to share your options?" Travis asked, sounding a lot like one of those chefs you'd seen on the Food channel.

Everyone thought it over. "Actually, your ideas sound good," Ginny admitted. The others agreed with her.

"There is a lot of us, so I think we can make all of it. Perce nodded. "We can make the stew lamb and mashed potatoes, fried rice and all that, and you can make the pizzas."

"Are you sure you want to let them do those?" Annabeth asked.

"We're not going to poison the food, Annabeth," Conner said, pouting. "Have a little faith, will you? We actually take _pride_ in our cooking."

"I can help them, if you'd like that," Luna offered. She had grown a liking for the two brothers. She didn't approve of how Annabeth was treating them.

"That's a good idea," Harry said, "As long as you don't make infusion of Gurdyroots."

Luna smiled. "We won't."

That was decided. Annabeth and Hermione went ahead to start making the stew lamb, and decided to add stew beef to the mix because Ron wanted beef while Harry wanted lamb. Perce, George, and Neville went ahead to make the fried rice while Thalia and Ginny stuck with the onion rings. Harry, Grover, and Percy were left with the salad while Rachel and Nico were given the task of making the mashed potatoes.

Conner, Travis, and Luna went to the other side of the kitchen and started gathering all the ingredients for pizza.

"I've never had pizza before," Luna told them.

Travis paused in the act of pulling a bowl out of the cupboard and gaped at her. "Never?"

"Never."

"Then, girl, you've been missing out," Conner said, laying out the ingredients on the cutting board. "Don't worry, we'll cure you of that."

Luna giggled as she started grating the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Travis put the bowl on the counter-top and poured flour into it according to his expert eye. Conner went ahead to prepare three different toppings, one for Hawaiian, one for vegetarian, and one for meat lovers. He was sure Grover would hate him for the latter, so he and Travis agreed on an extra-large vegie pizza.

"So, Luna, maybe you can show us how to make butterbeer later," Conner suggested as he finely chopped the vegetables up on the board. "Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow."

"That would be nice," Luna smiled. "We can make pumpkin juice too."

Travis nodded as he mixed up the dough for the pizzas. "That would be cool, maybe we can make a cake to go with it," he added. "Cakes and pastries are my specialty. Conner's better with cooking meals than me. Most of the time."

Conner nodded. "Yeah, Mom's horrible at it. No matter how many times she goes over the instructions, something always goes wrong."

Luna looked at him curiously. "What were your lives like before you went to camp?" she asked.

Conner stopped chopping the pimentos and glanced at Travis. They didn't often talk about their lives before Camp Half-Blood, mostly because people never cared. It was okay to speak about it with Bette because they had known her before they knew they were half-bloods, but other people? They had never given it a thought.

Then again, Luna was starting to grow on them. They looked into her curious eyes and sighed.

"Well, it was rough," he said slowly.

Travis sighed and kneaded the soft dough in his hands. "It was a long time ago," he added. "Our mother, Leanne Stoll, met our father Hermes at a New Year's Day party. He never told her he was god. She thought his name was Henry Greek."

"Yeah, the gods like using 'Greek' as a surname," Conner added.

"How do you know that?" Luna asked.

"A little bird told us," Travis said mysteriously.

"Dude, that owl was no little bird," Conner said, rubbing his forearm as he remembered how it had pained him. "That thing was heavy."

Luna started laughing. The Stolls grinned at her. They didn't notice the curious looks they were getting from the others.

"Anyway, Mom fell in love with him, and the feeling was mutual," Conner said as he began chopping again. "After a year together, they had Travis over there." He pointed at his brother with the cutting knife.

"And then Dad had to leave," Travis said sadly. "That broke Mom's heart. And within the year, he came back, but it took a long time for her to forgive him for deserting her with a newborn baby."

"That sounds horrible," Luna whispered.

"Most of the gods leave like that," Travis said. "We demigods are used to hearing our godly parents do that to the mortal ones. They might be doing that right now."

That made Luna frown.

"What happened between Mom and Dad was obvious," Conner said. "She forgave him and then they had me. After that, Dad left and never came back."

"Mom hates his guts now," Travis said grimly. "Whenever she spoke of him, it was with nothing but contempt. She couldn't look at us without seeing him, and she kept a distance. Conner and I hated that. We made all sorts of trouble to get her attention, but I think we just drove her away."

"Then the monsters started attacking," Conner continued. "Our father visited us once after school and explained the whole story. We didn't trust him, but he sent a satyr to take us to camp. After that, our relationship with mom took a sour turn."

"Why was that?" Luna asked softly. She had stopped grating cheese, just like how Conner and Travis had paused with their work.

"We didn't want to tell her," Travis explained softly. "About us being demigods. About Dad being a god. We became secretive, just like Dad. She hated that. In the beginning, we only spent the summer at camp, but then the monster attacks and Mom became unbearable. We worked it out with Chiron to make an excuse to give her. We would go to a 'boarding school'—"

"A.k.a, Camp Half-Blood," Conner inputted.

"—which would take care of us as a summer camp after the school year," Travis finished.

"And we've been at camp ever since," Conner said as he turned to the cutting board again.

"That's sad," Luna said. "Did you ever see your mother again?"

"Only in pictures and letters," Conner said. "But honestly, we haven't seen her in years."

Luna felt sorry for the brothers. Both of them seemed to lose their cheery attitude by talking about their mother.

"My mother died when I was nine," Luna said. "I was raised by my father, Xenophilius Lovegood."

"Oh," the Stolls said, not sure how to respond to that. Then Conner asked, "You're father's name is Xenophilius?"

Luna smiled. "It's a unique name. It means _'one who loves the strange'_."

"And your mother?" Travis asked.

"Her name was Aldora," Luna said.

"Aldora?" Travis asked. "That's a Greek name. It means _'a winged gift'_."

"That's sweet," Luna smiled. "She was a very _gifted_ witch."

"I'm sorry she died," Travis said. "That's worse than our mother."

"In a way," Luna said with a nod. "But I know that she's still out there, and that she loves me. She died protecting me from one of her spells that went awry. I still miss her, but she's at peace now."

The Stolls smiled at Luna. She was a very interesting person to talk to.

**~o~**

"How many incidents do you go through in this book?" Harry asked as he cut the celery.

"A lot," Percy sighed as he picked up a new batch. "This is going to be my first quest in the book."

"Quest?" Harry asked.

"Mission, in a way," Percy explained. "And it's going to be really dangerous."

Harry groaned. "Do you have a simple life?"

"No, do you?"

"No."

Harry and Percy laughed as they continued with the salad.

"You said you got your mum back, right?" Harry asked.

Percy nodded. "It took a lot before I did," he sighed. "You'll find out tomorrow."

**~o~**

It was half an hour before anyone really started to bring up a conversation.

"That note that Luna read," Hermione said suddenly. "It said that the person who lives here goes by the initials _V.V.A_. Does that ring any bells to you guys?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I really don't know," she said, sounding disgruntled. "Do you think they are their real initials?"

"I think so," Rachel said.

Harry frowned. He remembered that Rachel promised to tell him who the singing woman was. Maybe she was the owner of this house. He was about to ask her about it when she met his eyes and shook her head slightly in a way that warned him not to say anything. Not in front of the rest of them.

"It's obvious they have something to do with Apollo," Nico pondered. "Hey Rachel, you're Apollo's oracle. Do you have any suggestions?"

Harry saw Rachel hesitate before answering. "No. I'm sorry, but I don't," she said convincingly. Harry knew she was lying.

"Well, we know they must be an immortal as least," Annabeth said. "Or some sort of Greek deity."

"If they were a god or a goddess, who do you think they would be?" Hermione asked. "Put the initials aside, who do you think it would be?"

Annabeth frowned and looked at Thalia. "I don't know. Maybe Artemis."

"I don't think it might be Artemis," Thalia said with a frown.

"Okay, Nyx? Maybe Asteria, the Titan goddess of Stars. There are several possibilities," Annabeth mused. "It might be Asteria. She's Apollo's aunt."

_'Given who he was talking to, I don't think that was likely_,' Percy thought to himself.

"Wait! Didn't Asteria fling herself into the Aegean Sea in the form of a quail in order to escape my Dad's advances?" Thalia asked. "It was said that she became the 'quail island' of Ortygia."

Ron gaped at her. "You have a very weird family, do you know that?"

"Yes," the demigods sighed.

"Well, that doesn't mean that Asteria gave up her job," Annabeth said. "From what I heard, she left the island there and retreated back to the skies. Who knows? Maybe this is her home..."

Harry stood up and went to the refrigerator. The others went back to their conversation about who "V.V.A" was, but Rachel didn't join them. She went over to the refrigerators with Harry.

"After lunch, pair with me when we're looking through the house," she whispered urgently. "I'll tell you then, but the others can't know yet."

"Why not?" he asked impatiently.

"I can't say now..." Rachel said.

"Why not?" a new voice added. The two looked around and saw Percy standing behind them. "I'd like to know who the singing voice is as well."

"You heard her?" Harry asked quickly.

"Yes, I heard her talk to Apollo," Percy replied. "And sing. Apollo just told me to come over here. Can I be let in too?"

Rachel sighed exasperatedly. Then she heard her patron's voice, _'It's okay, Rachel, I give you permission to talk to them about it. Just don't tell them all of Venaurora's history. And tell them to call her Vena until further notice. You can tell them of her role, her father, and what she is doing here.'_

_'Yes, Apollo_,' she thought. "Okay, okay, I'll you both, but only you two," Rachel said. "You got that? No telling the others."

"Yes," Harry and Percy said in agreement.

**~o~**

George stirred the pot of boiling rice absently. Neville took care of the vegetables while Perce paced back and forth in agitation. Only moments before he had been cutting vegetables with Neville when he suddenly got to his feet and started pacing around the room, looking unnerved and breathing heavily.

"Percy, are you feeling okay?" Neville asked.

"No," Percy Weasley said. "There's something wrong."

George looked up from the pot. "We're in an _unknown_ place that has _color-changing_ skies, and we're in a building which has a kitchen _bigger_ than the Burrow, helping _demigods_, a muggle, and a _satyr_ to cook a meal," he said, "and you say something's _wrong_?"

Neville laughed.

Percy pouted, with was too strange to George because he rarely ever did. "That's not what I meant," he said.

"Then what is it?" Neville asked.

Percy frowned. "That's the thing, I don't know," he said.

George sighed. "You watch the pot now," he said. "I could never stand the heat from these things."

Percy nodded and took the spoon. "So how did you make your potions?"

George hesitated before muttering, "Fred was always better at potions. He took the subject and made them for the shop."

"Oh," Percy said softly. "I remember, you two only ever shared Defense as a subject," he said.

George nodded. "Yeah, I took charms and herbology, he took transfiguration and potions."

"Why?" Neville asked.

"We only needed those five subjects," George said in a flat voice. "There was no point in learning it twice when we were a—a t-team." He choked up a little but thankfully he didn't cry. "We planned it all out since third year."

Percy's eyebrows shot up. "So that's why you two got only three subjects each," he said in realization.

"Yeah, besides Defense Against the Dark Arts, we got lots of work done between classes," George said, sounding nostalgic. "When he was in potions and transfiguration, I'd be working on the products. And when I was in charms and herbology, he did his share. Free periods, we worked together."

Percy turned away in shame. He remembered how he had ridiculed his younger brothers over the number of OWLs they had received. He saw the brilliance of their plan; they didn't want to waste time. They were quite clever. George seemed to follow his train of thought.

"It's alright, Perce," he said. "You didn't know."

**~o~**

Annabeth and Hermione were busy with the stew lamb and beef. Annabeth took care of most of it, seeing as Hermione didn't really know what to do most of the time.

"I am really not a good cook," Hermione admitted. "Making food and I are not compatible."

"That's okay," Annabeth said. "I know a thing or two. My step-mother tries to teach me sometimes. Plus, I'm good at following instructions and luckily for us, we have an instruction book." She indicated to the book she had found in one of the shelves; it currently sat open on the counter beside her.

Hermione laughed. "Thank god for books," she giggled.

"Oh yes, let's," Annabeth agreed, grinning.

Annabeth checked on the meet before turning to Hermione. "So, Hermione, tell me about yourself," she suggested, "I already told you about mine."

Hermione nodded. She had been in shock to hear about Annabeth's childhood and how she had been treated by her family.

"Well, I am from England, as you well know," she said. Annabeth laughed. "And my parents are dentists. Their names are Wendy and Mason Granger. Years ago, they had a son, Sebastian, but he died when he was three."

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry," Annabeth said.

"It was a long time ago, before I was born," Hermione said sadly. "But I know my parents miss him. Then they had me, their little Hermione. They chose that name because they thought that a 'nice, unusual' first name would be difficult to pronounce because they 'liked to prove how clever they were', as my father puts it."

Annaeth covered her mouth to hide her grin.

"And they got it from Shakespeare. Sebastian's name too, from the play _Twelfth Night_. I think they always knew I was special," Hermione continued. "And I was. I knew my ABC's by the time I was a year old and I could count to twenty. I knew how to recognize words by the time I was three. Once I got to five, I could read pretty well. I stuttered on words I didn't know, but I was the most advanced reader in my class. The schoolwork was too easy for me, so they bumped me up to a higher class."

"Impressive," Annabeth said, smiling. "You could almost be an Athena child, but you lack the appearance."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose I would. I take after my mother," she said. The two girls chuckled. "Um, I was always the brightest in school, but I didn't have a lot of friends. I just read a lot. I was sort of neat and proper, and other kids were more wild and fun. I didn't fit in. But there were a few kids I likes. There was Sara from the chess club. She was nice. Oh, and Darrin Roach, my neighbor. He was my best friend back home. We sort of grew apart after I went to Hogwarts, but I still talk to him."

Hermione went over to check with the cook book. "And my parents loved to take me camping," she said. "We'd go fishing sometimes, look and specify different types of trees in the woods, even the animals. We used to play 'I spy with my little eye' a lot. I always won."

Annabeth smiled. "That sounds nice," she said. "I only ever camped in far out places with Luke and Thalia when I was small. I go every now and then to the beach with Percy now. But not any leisure camping."

"You should try it, it's fun," Hermione said. "Just make sure to have enough food and not be in danger."

Annabeth sighed in mock exasperation. "See, we already have a problem!" Hermione started laughing and Annabeth joined her soon afterwards. They were really enjoying themselves.

**~o~**

"So Thalia, what is it that you do now?" Ginny asked. "I mean, I know you've been a tree, but you're back now. Do you stay at camp?"

Thalia shook her head. "No, I don't," she said. Then she leaned in. "If I tell you, don't tell the others. I want it to be a surprise."

"I will say nothing," Ginny said. "I promise."

Thalia looked around to see if anyone was watching. She saw Nico sitting close by, chopping potatoes. Rachel said with him, peeling the potatoes for him to chop up. The two of them looked up at her and smirked.

"We won't say anything either," Nico said. "We're not moving from here, so don't make us."

"Not that we don't already know," Rachel added.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Fine." She looked at Ginny and smiled. "I'm immortal."

Ginny dropped her onion. "What?" she asked in a dead whisper. Nico bit back a snicker.

"Well, not full immortal," Thalia explained, glaring at Nico. "I can still die, but if I don't, I never age."

"How?" she asked.

Thalia leaned in and whispered. "I'm a hunter of Artemis, the goddess of virgins," she said. "I joined her before my sixteenth birthday, around the time Percy was fourteen. I haven't aged since."

Ginny gaped at her, so Thalia continued. "To become part of the hunt, you have to swear off men. Forever."

"To be a maiden forever?" Ginny asked.

"Yep, if I break my vows by falling for a guy, then I lose immortality," Thalia explained. "There are a lot of us in the Hunt. It has been many centuries since a hunter has given up immortality for a man."

"What happened to her?" Ginny asked.

"She lived a long life and had lots of children," Thalia said. "She had a happy ending. For others, it's not the same. I need not go into it."

Ginny bit her lower lip and turned her head away. "Do like this life?" she asked.

Thalia nodded and beamed. "Of course! The Hunt is amazing," she said. "We live in the wild. We hunt. We enjoy ourselves with guys around. A groups of sisters who love each other."

"I never had a sister," Ginny said. "Only brothers. Hermione and Luna are the closest people to sisters for me. Oh, and my two best friends, Narelle and Tacita."

"Who are they?" Thalia asked.

"Tacita is a pureblood witch," Ginny said. "She is rich, but she doesn't like it. And she's really beautiful. Boys go after her all the time. And Narelle is more bookish, but she's great. I haven't seen her in a while, but she's with her family, so that's understandable."

"What about Tacita?"

"She's currently in the hospital with a few injuries, but she's going to be okay," Ginny said. "I'm supposed to visit her on Wednesday." They she paused. "The Wednesday when I'm done reading." Thalia snorted. "Actually, I don't know what day it is HERE."

"Neither do I," Thalia admitted. She looked over at Hades' son. "What about you, Nico?"

"I got nothing," Nico said. "Maybe Saturday?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You think it's the same day we left?"

"Probably."

Within the hour, all the cooking was done. Hermione, Ginny, and Harry levitated the hot dishes to the table while Percy Jackson and Percy Weasley went to get the plates. George and Neville settled on the silverware while Rachel and Grover went to get the drinks. By the time they were finished, they were joined by the Stolls and Luna.

The three of them were smiling broadly as they set three large pizzas on the table.

"_Magnifico_," Conner said proudly. "We have all vegie, meat-lovers, and Hawaiian."

"That smells good," Rachel commented.

"At least the one without the meat," Grover added.

Travis leaned towards Conner and muttered, "I told you he would say that."

Conner groaned and dug into his pocket for two drachmas.

"Does anyone find it weird that we have money?" Neville asked. "We didn't come here with any. So why are our pockets full of it."

"I never noticed that before," Annabeth said.

"I did, when Ron made a bet with Luna," Neville said. "How did you know, Ron?"

"It was there in my pocket with my wand," Ron said, patting his pocket. Then he frowned. "How could I not know? Especially when someone takes it…" He glared at the Stolls.

"What?" Conner asked innocently, twirling a wand in his hands.

"Gimme that!" Ron snapped, snatching his wand away. A few people laughed.

Conner and Travis helped themselves to their Hawaiian pizza and some mashed potatoes with stew. Luna sat with them and took a slice of garden pizza and fried rice. Since nothing happened to them, the others deemed the pizza safe.

**~o~**

After lunch, everyone took an hour's break before starting to explore the house.

They all admired the white marble walls, the stone pillars, all the silver, gold, and bronze pieces crafted into them. They all seemed to show images of ancient landscapes, places that were long gone. They stopped to examine the statues, and with Annabeth's help, they were able to identify a few.

"This one here is Menoetius," she explained as they came to stop in front of a statue of a male deity. "He was the Titan of violent anger, rash action, and human mortality. He was killed by Zeus and his essence was sent to Tartarus."

"Where he belongs," Nico said darkly.

They came to another statue. It depicted a big man standing over a woman who was desperately clinging to her ripped clothes.

"What is this?" Ron asked, turning green.

Annabeth came to examine the statue. "This is Tityos, he was a giant," Annabeth said. "This woman here is Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo. Tityos tried to rape her."

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"Don't worry, he didn't," Rachel reassured her. "Apollo and Artemis came to her rescue. They killed Tityos and took her away."

"Now there're some good children," Ron muttered. "Apollo's starting to look up now."

Everyone managed to smile at his joking, but they were still disgusted by the statue, so they moved on.

The continued walking until they came to a row of statues. They depicted extremely handsome men in tunics with wings on their backs and bows and arrows in their hands.

"Who are they?" Luna asked.

Annabeth came forward and her eyes shot up. "Oh my goodness, this detail is incredible," she marveled. "The proportions are exact. Besides the fact that they were made of stone, this is a piece of work..."

"Who are they?" Hermione repeated for Luna.

"They are the Erotes, servants to Aphrodite," Annabeth explained. "Here is Eros, god of love and—well, something I don't want to say. Anteros, god of requited love. Himeros, god of—um, desire ... romantically, anyways." Annabeth wasn't the only one who was blushing now. "Then there is Hedylogos, god of sweet talk and flattery. And Pothos, god of—well... longing, yearning and desire." Annabeth turned away and buried her head in Percy's shoulder. Percy patted her back and avoided looking at the statue."

"Moving on," he said, leading the group further down the hall.

"And I thought Apollo was bad," Ron grumbled.

Rachel bit back a giggle as she heard Apollo's mental voice grumbling in the background of her head.

They came across portraits of various gods and goddesses.

"Oh, guys, look at this," Rachel pointed out. "Here's Apollo and Artemis."

Everyone came to see a portrait of two children sitting by a lake with a woman smiling down at them. One was a little girl with blood-red curls and soft smooth skin. Her eyes shone like the moon and her smile was sweet and innocent.

"She's so cute," Hermione cooed.

"So is Apollo," Ginny pointed out. It was true. Apollo had a head full of blond curls and bright baby blue eyes. He looked a lot like his sister when he smiled. They were holding hands over the water like two happy siblings.

"You never see them do that now," Nico said. "They don't really get along, do they?"

"Nope," Thalia said sadly. "Apollo is the god of bachelors while Artemis is the goddess of maidens. That's bound to be tough on the relationship."

"Is that Leto?" Luna asked, pointing to the woman. She had long brown hair and moon bright eyes, just like Artemis.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "This must have been before the Python of Delphi attacked them. They are only children here."

"Python of Delphi?" Neville asked. "Like the Oracle?"

"In a way," Rachel said. "Hera was angry that Zeus had had the twins with Leto, so she sent the python after her. Apollo slayed the creature to save his mother and he took on the oracle as his servant. He's the god of prophecy."

"Hermes can do that too," Conner said. "You know, after he stole Apollo's cattle and then gave him the lyre, he learned a few secrets from him."

"That's true," Annabeth nodded. "How do you know that?"

"It's our father's history," Travis said, like that should have explained everything. "How could we not?"

"That was one of his best heists!" Conner added.

The group moved on through the corridors, looking at portraits and statues as they passed. They kept track of where they were, going slowly from north to west, then from west to south, then from south to east.

"Can we go outside?" Ginny asked.

"Not now," Perce said. "It's getting late."

"How can you tell?" Harry asked.

"Look outside," Perce suggested. Everyone went to the nearest window and gazed up at the sky. The sun was setting in east, rather than the west. The sky itself was pink and purple, getting darker by the minute.

"Wow, we should get back to the common room," George said. "We can look around more tomorrow."

The others nodded in agreement. Nico asked for a map and directions back to the room. They made it back in ten minutes. Little did they know that a few of their members stayed back from the group.

"The day went by so fast," Grover commented. "I could have sworn we were only walking for three hours since lunch."

"Maybe time works differently here," Annabeth suggested.

"Maybe," Hermione nodded. Then she looked around. "Um, where's Harry?"

Everyone looked around wildly. Nico frowned. "Where's Percy?" Nico asked.

"And Rachel?" Thalia added, looking around.

They had been walking together so quickly that they didn't realize that three of their group was missing.

**~o~**

"Are you going to tell us why we ditched the others?" Percy asked as Rachel ran down the hallway with him and Harry on her heels.

"In a minute, Percy," she said. "I couldn't get a chance to talk to you before, but now—Ah! We're here."

"We're where?" Percy asked, looking dumbfounded.

"Is this the library?" Harry asked, recognizing the double doors in front of him.

"Yep, get in," Rachel ordered, opening the door for them. Percy and Harry exchanged confused looks but they did as they were told. When she closed the door, darkness swallowed them. They couldn't even see each other.

"It's dark in here," Percy said, breathing heavily. "I don't like how dark it is. It makes me feel enclosed. I don't like that feeling."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I'm claustrophobic."

"Oh."

Rachel coughed. "Um, you seemed okay in the labyrinth," she said.

"That was different," Percy said. "I was in tunnels, and those were big. I don't have a problem being underground; it's just that I can't handle enclosed spaces." He gulped. "It feels enclosed in here. I want light. I need light. Either that, or let me out of here."

"Percy, calm down," Harry said. "It's okay. Here. Lumos!"

Harry lit his wand so that the three of them could see each other. Rachel giggled at the look on Percy's face.

"Who knew the brave Percy Jackson would be afraid of the dark," she giggled.

"I'm not afraid of it," Percy said, pouting. "I just don't like it."

Rachel smiled and shook her head. "Look at this," she said. She looked out towards the room and said, "_Anapse to Asteron!_"

"Light up the Star?" Percy translated, but as Rachel said the words, the entire room lit up like they were under the sun.

"Whoa!" Harry gasped, shielding his eyes. "How'd you do that?"

"It's like the light switch," Rachel explained. "To turn it off, you say _'Skouro to Asteron'_ and the light goes out." To demonstrate it, she called out the words loudly and the room went dark again. The only source of light came from Harry's wand.

"Close your eyes, I'm going to turn the lights on," Rachel warned. Harry and Percy closed their eyes as Rachel said "_Anapse to Asteron_" and a white light shone through their eyelids. They looked around, blinking to readjust their sight and looked at Rachel expectantly.

"So what do you want to know?" Rachel asked.

"Who was that singing woman?" Harry asked.

"Well, I can't tell you her full name, but her first name is Vena," Rachel said. "Actually, that is a nickname TO her first name, but you can call her that. She is the Guide, not just to the gods, but the universe as well. She stands as a lieutenant to Chaos."

"What do you mean by Guide?" Percy asked. "And who's Chaos?"

"What do you think a guide is, Percy?" Rachel asked. "She is the one who, well — guides — the universe. That's her job. And Chaos is the ancient deity who created the primordials, like Gaea, Ouranos, and Nyx. Vena is his daughter and servant."

"I've never heard of him," Percy said. "Neither have I heard of Vena."

"You're not supposed to," Rachel said. "Mortals aren't too aware of her at all. The gods kept her a secret by the order of Chaos. He didn't want his daughter's existence a public matter. They call her the minor primordial, or the late-born."

"The late-born?" Harry asked. "Can you explain that?"

"Not really," Rachel said.

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Um..." Rachel tried to think of what to say. _'Apollo, can I get some help here_?'

_'Repeat what I say_,' she heard him say in an amused voice.

"Rachel, why can't you explain?" Harry repeated.

"Wow, you two are both annoyingly alike," she muttered. Harry and Percy scowled at her. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Look, I can't tell you everything. Vena is supposed to tell you herself, but she can't come out yet. You have to exercise some patience here."

The two looked disgruntled with her answer. "What I can tell you is that she can be trusted," Rachel went on. "You two didn't wish on just any ordinary star. You wished on her home. Such an act has serious results. The difference in time is so strange that it will be hard for me to explain it."

"Then start slowly," Harry said. "What do you mean by late-born?"

"That she was born late," Rachel said, as if that was the most logical answer. "By the time she was supposed to exist, she was still developing. Her siblings went ahead with their lives, and they are the ones known in history. Not Vena."

"That must suck," Percy muttered.

"She doesn't mind," Rachel said. "She has enough to handle. Apollo said it can be more troublesome than that of the gods."

"Pray tell," Harry said.

"You should ask her yourself," Rachel said. "I don't know everything about her."

Harry nodded. "Can you at least tell us what she was singing? _'Rise is the sun to the sky above, lest the moon should play further its stay. My heart is wounded—my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry. Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love. I hold you dear, my brightest dove! Oh, can you see it?'_."

"Wow, I could never remember that so easily," Percy said, impressed.

"Considering what I have been through, keeping track of information is quite important," Harry said, shrugging.

"Very good," Rachel said. "That song is based on an ancient prophecy made before the Council of the Gods was even complete. Before Ares was born. Vena was there when it was made. Instead of always reciting it, she composed a song out of it, as a reminder. Whenever she sings it, it means that something linked to the prophecy is in motion."

"What is the prophecy?" Harry asked.

"That I don't know because Apollo never told me," Rachel said. "I don't have instant access to all the prophecies ever made, so I'm not much help there. Apollo only ever told me one line of it."

"And what is that?" Percy asked.

Rachel sighed. "It was: _Of son and father, of brother and son; Tie the bonds least thought to have, and bring a new future at hand_. He never told me what it meant."

The two guys frowned. "Of son and father, of brother and son?" Percy asked exasperatedly. "Why do prophecies have to be in riddles?"

"Tie the bonds least thought to have, and bring anew future at hand," Harry finished. "That does sound strange. How is that linked to the song?"

"Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come," Rachel recited. "Those are the words that link up. I'm sure of it, from what Apollo tells me."

"When does he tell you this?" Percy asked.

"Now," Rachel said, smiling. "He says hi."

"He's in your head?" Percy asked. Rachel nodded. "Tell him I have a bone to pick with him."

Rachel giggled. "He got the message," she said, smirking. "The rest of the words have something to do with Vena, not the prophecy," she continued. "Apollo won't tell me. A personal matter, apparently."

Percy frowned. "Apollo told me that Vena created a goddess, but she wasn't her daughter," he said. "Can you tell me about that?"

"Magic," Rachel said simply. "That goddess was not born normally. In fact, she was never really born, though history says she was. She was created from light magic and black witchcraft. Quite a dangerous combination that was."

"Is that goddess evil?" Harry asked nervously.

"No, but she can be dark," Rachel said. "She's one of the dark deities, like Hades."

"That doesn't make me optimistic to meet her," Percy grumbled.

"She's not so bad," a new voice spoke up. The three of them turned around to see Apollo standing but one of the bookshelves, twirling a pocket-watch in his hand.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Apollo, nice you meet you, Mr. Potter," Apollo said, striding forward.

"_You're_ Apollo?" Harry asked skeptically.

He couldn't be blamed. The guy standing in front of him was practically his own age, blond haired, blue eyed, handsome. Yet Harry could sense serious power radiating off his skin. He definitely wasn't mortal or muggle, but he couldn't really picture him as a god.

"Gods can take the form of any age," Apollo said, guessing Harry's dilemma. "I like looking like a teenager." Then he smirked and his skin started to age until he was around his late twenties. He was still handsome, but much older and more mature-looking. "But if you'd prefer I look older, it's no problem."

A startled Harry backed away. "Um, no, that's okay," he said shakily. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Decent of you," Apollo laughed, morphing back into his teenage form. "Vena has told me quite a bit about you. Such a dark, sad history you have." He sighed. "A child of light, a heart so bright; he suffers pain, and fights for no gain—yet love is the light through harsh turmoil, friendship and hope are the bonding souls."

Harry backed away even more. "What was that? And what did she tell you?" he asked.

Apollo shrugged. "I like rhyming. As for what Vena told me..." _'Oh, it was of your parent's murder by Voldemort, and the abuse inflicted on you by Vernon and Petunia Dursley, along with being hunted by Voldemort and nearly dying multiple times,_' Apollo's voice rang out in his head. Harry jumped at the sound. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to spoil it for the others."

"That's—that's okay," Harry said, eyeing Apollo carefully.

"What'd he tell you?" Percy asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Harry muttered, turning away.

"Anyways, Vena says time's up," Apollo said, swinging the pocket-watch on his finger. "Time to go back to your common room before your friends panic."

The three of them froze. "Oh, Bloody Merlin!" Harry gasped.

"How long have we been gone?" Percy asked, running for the door.

Apollo smiled at Rachel who just shook her head wearily. All he had to do was bring up the others and the two guys would be distracted.

"Did I tell them too much?" she asked.

"You did perfectly, Rach, now let's go after them before they get lost," Apollo said.

"Honestly, how long have we been gone?" Harry demanded as they raced down the corridors.

"As far as the others know, five minutes," Apollo said, running with them. "Vena tweaked the time pattern in the hallways."

"She can do that?" Percy asked.

"She's the Mistress of this home, isn't she?" Apollo asked. "Just follow me; I'll have you there in a minute."

"Aren't the gods _NOT_ supposed to interfere so much?" Percy asked.

"I'm not interfering, I'm helping," Apollo said dismissively. "The Ancient Laws apply on earth, not on Star. I am free to do what I want, but I choose to listen to Vena because this is her home."

"So Star is an actual star?" Harry asked.

"More like a tiny planet the size of the States in diameter," Apollo explained.

"All of them?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"Look at a map and study the length of the states from east to west, I think that would give you the diameter's impression," Apollo said. "Relatively, it's a star in space as well as a planet."

"Luna will be thrilled," Harry said.

"Ah, yes, Luna. A curious girl," Apollo said. "She reminds me of Athena when she's thoughtful." He gulped. "Athena isn't always nice to me around that stage."

"Don't worry, Luna's harmless as long as she's not threatened," Harry assured him.

"Good to know."

Within minutes, they reached the outside of the Guest Common Room. They could hear a number of voices in there, mostly Ron and Hermione.

"It sounds like they're arguing," Harry commented.

"Well, get in there before they kill someone," Apollo instructed before disappearing into thin air in the form of a soft light.

"That looked cooler than apparition," Harry muttered.

"Yeah, he's impressive," Rachel said dismissively. "Now let's go!"

The three of them hurried into the room to find the two groups in a heated argument.

"We have to find them!" Annabeth said. "Do you know how much trouble Percy can get into?"

"From reading this book, yes!" Neville said.

"Harry's curiosity can get the better of him," Hermione said. "He would do something foolish if he's not careful."

"Give him some credit, Hermione," Ron said. "He's not five!"

"I know that!" Hermione said, blushing.

"Let's just hope they're with Rachel," Nico said. "They wouldn't get in trouble with her."

"Should we just split up and search for them?" Ginny asked anxiously.

"We could get lost," Conner said.

"They are probably lost too!" Thalia snapped at him. Conner backed away in surprise.

"Take it easy now," Travis said, standing protectively in front of his younger brother.

Harry, Percy, and Rachel gave each other startled glances.

"Okay, we'll split up in two groups," Annabeth said.

Thalia looked around and saw the three people by the door. "Don't bother," she said.

"Why not?" Hermione demanded.

"Because we're right here," Harry said, holding his arms.

Everyone turned around to see and amused Rachel and a very put off Percy and Harry.

"Where have you three been?" they all exclaimed.

"Walking," Percy said, turning to go to his room.

"I'm tired," Harry said. "I'm going to bed early. See you."

"I think I will too," Rachel nodded.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Travis said, causing them all to stop. "The three of you disappear on us, and you decide to return and not tell us anything?"

"Yeah," Conner agreed. "Why'd you disappear."

"We didn't disappear," Harry said. "We took a wrong turn."

"And as you can see, we're okay," Percy said. "Good night."

They made to leave again before they were stopped by Ginny.

"We were really worried about you," she said softly. "You had us panicking."

"We're fine," Percy said dismissively. "We didn't get into any trouble." Annabeth turned pink.

"Yeah, and we managed to keep our curiosity reeled in," Harry added waspishly. "No foolishness whatsoever. It's not like we're five". Hermione and Ron blushed.

"Yeah, they were well behaved," Rachel said, suppressing a grin. "They caused no trouble on my watch." Nico bit his lip and turned away in embarrassment.

They were all embarrassed.

"You heard that?" George asked.

"Do you know how long we were standing over there?" Rachel asked bluntly. "We weren't that far behind you."

Everyone had the decency to look sheepish now.

**~o~**

Apollo found Vena in the kitchen. She was at one of the stoves, stirring something in a pan. She didn't even look up when Apollo entered the kitchen.

Apollo froze at the sight of her. He could remember the first time he saw her in his entire life. It wasn't too long after he had taken his throne on Olympus. His father had announced that a messenger was sent to them by Chaos himself, but he had never taken that much interest. Then he had seen the messenger and his immortal heart actually stopped for a few seconds. There had never been anyone as enchanting as this creature to him. Aphrodite didn't compare much at all in his mind. The other gods had liked her, but not on the level he had.

He felt like that now. Vena wasn't dressed in the sheer off-white chiton he remembered her in all those millennia ago. She was dressed in a soft white sheer sleeveless top and gold cotton shorts and white slippers. It looked like she was in her pajamas. Her auburn-gold hair was tied up in a ponytail so her ringlet curls cascaded down her back to her waist. Her light olive skin was as creamy as always. Even from this distance, he could see her long naturally thick eyelashes flutter as she looked into the pan.

"You know," she said. "As flattering as your descriptions are, you're making me blush."

Apollo couldn't help but smile. "Stop reading my mind," he said playfully, walking towards her.

"You're broadcasting," she said defensively, not looking up at him. "I couldn't help it."

"You can never help it," Apollo said, rolling his eyes. He stopped next to her. "What are you making?"

"Parsad," she said. "Actually, it's Prasad. I learned how to make during a festival called Divali. It tastes very nice."

Apollo looked at the pan. "It looks like lumpy dough," he commented.

Vena rolled her eyes. "Don't knock till you try it," she said.

Apollo smiled sultrily. "Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked innocently. He looked down into Vena's multicolored eyes. Her irises were swirling with nebula and stars. She had no pupil. Looking into her eyes, he could see hundreds of beautiful galaxies of a variety of colors. His heart almost melted again. These were his favorite eyes.

Vena pretended to glare at him with her pretty eyes and turned off the stove. "Take your head out of the gutter," she said sternly, walking away with the pan.

Apollo sighed and then put on a smile. "I was just joking, Venaurora," he said.

"Sure, you were," she said, not sounding convinced. "In case you've forgotten, Apollo, I can hear your thoughts. I know whether you were joking or not."

Apollo hung his head and followed her to the table. "I'm sorry, Venaurora," he said.

"You're forgiven," she said dismissively. "Gods only know how many times you tried to pull that one on me." She put the food on a plate before offering some to him. "Parsad?"

"No, thank you," he said. He still amazed him how she unaffected she was by him.

"Suit yourself," she said. "That's more for me."

Apollo stared at her and then shook his head. Vena had always been different than other immortals. She was both serious and laid-back.

"How's you Dad?" Apollo asked.

Vena eyed him suspiciously. "He's fine," she said. "He still doesn't like you."

Apollo groaned. "Of course he doesn't."

"You can't blame him," she said lightly. "You are a playboy."

"I'm not a playboy," Apollo protested.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night," Vena said, waving her hand. Apollo glared. "I'm kidding," she added.

"Why do you taunt me so much?" he asked in a pleading voice.

"It's fun," Vena said.

"Not to me."

"Whoever said it was fun for you?"

Apollo groaned and hit his head on the table. Vena laughed and choked out, "Careful, hon, we don't need you losing any brain cells."

"You sound like Artemis," Apollo's muffled voice rang out from on the table.

Vena giggled. "Of course I do. She's my friend."

"And I'm not?"

"No, you're the stalker."

Apollo raised his head and laughed. "I'm not a stalker!"

"Oh really?" she asked. "Can you explain why you've hunted me down since day one we met? Several millennia ago?"

Apollo glared. "Stop distracting me," he said. "What happened that you're trying to cover? Nico's near explosion?"

"Bingo," she said, pretending to ring a bell. "It took you long enough."

"You and your games," he sighed to himself. There was one thing that Venaurora loved to do, and that was to distract him from important topics with random arguments. "What happened?"

Vena poked more parsad in her mouth. "Well, for starters, there's a room in the east side that is utterly in disrepair," she said. "I had to channel what dark power than wasn't in the common room into that one so that my house doesn't crumble. He's one powerful child, I'll tell you that."

"Why is it happening?" Apollo asked. "He's a fourteen year old kid."

"Almost fourteen, at the moment he's still thirteen, but he'll be fourteen in a few months," Vena corrected. "He's got a lot of power, most of which can be too wild." She looked at her parsad. "Hades' theory is based from Nico's stay in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. As a demigod gets older, his or her powers get stronger. Nico was in there for decades. His natural growth acceleration was stumped with time. Now that he's out and growing properly again, his powers are—well—increasing to suit his natural age, which is over seventy years. His young body doesn't have the necessities handle it. I think that's why he is somewhere between ages. Why he's immature and mature at the same time. Why he is wise and yet so ignorant..."

"He's both a man and a child," Apollo summed up. "That a rotten deal."

"A bit rich coming from you," Vena teased.

"Let's not turn into the wizards, please," Apollo chuckled, remembering that argument. "Is he the only one we have to worry about? I know we don't have to worry about Thalia or anything like that..."

"Not Thalia," Vena agreed. "She's off by a few years, but not by much. Besides Nico, it's the Stolls we have to worry about."

"The Stolls?" Apollo asked in surprise. "Hermes' kids? Conner and Travis?"

"The very ones," Vena said. "And add Ginny to the list. She's one powerful witch."

"Why Ginny?" Apollo asked.

"Ginny is one of the main connections of this unity," Vena said. "At least, in the future. She's the first daughter to be born to the Weasley line in a little over a century."

"What's the connection?" Apollo asked.

"It's an old prophecy made a thousand years ago," Vena said. "It connects the wizards and demigods very closely. And it involves these two generations."

"Which prophecy?" Apollo asked. "There are so many..."

Vena smiled and leaned forward. Apollo couldn't help but notice that her lips were remarkably soft. He wished he could kiss them just once. "The Prophecy of the Founder's Heirs."

Apollo's eyes widened. "Oh... that one. But how are the demigods—oh."

Vena smiled. "Now you see it," she said proudly. "The wizards have their part to play in this prophecy. But it's the demigods who have to train them up."

"But that's nowhere near the year yet," Apollo said. "Why are you showing them now?"

Vena's face turned grim. "Because there's a war ahead of you," she said. "The Titans were only the beginning. I can't show you afterwards, it would be too sudden."

Apollo paled. "The beginning of what? We just finished a war."

Vena ate the last of her parsad. She looked up at him, then sighed. "The Prophecy of Seven. It's already begun."

* * *

**So that's that chapter. It's just a filler, in a way, but I just wanted to expand the story more than just reading. I'm just going to answer a few things from the reviews from chapter 13:**

**To Sakra: Thanks. I'm hoping that Nico remains safe. I don't actually want anything bad happening to him.**

**To Taka: Yeah, I realized that each chapter gets longer than the last. This one is actually shorter than the last one. And it's not a reading. O_O**

**To lunalovegood0628: Okay, the Weasley's in order age? Well, since I was writing "the Burrow" story before, and it's on hiatus until further notice, I had actually researched that months ago. I still remember it now, but I can't say birthdays, unless it's Ginny's and Ron's. And the Twins. Well, I know Molly is older than Arthur by a year. Then Bill is the eldest. Charlie comes next. Then Percy. Then the twins. I never did know if Fred was the older one, of if George was. I always pictured Fred as the older one. I just know that their twins, and in this story I'm writing, I put Fred as the eldest. I'm just not sure there. Then Ron. And then Ginny. I can't actually put the next generation. I know who each Weasley marries and how many child they had though. I know Charlie didn't marry... Okay, I'm rambling.**

**To anon: I wouldn't dream of it. I like Nico too much to do that to him.**

**To teanotes: I'm still on a debate with that. I might either do each book separately. I don't think I can make a story with a thousand chapters in it. I am definitely going to do both stories for Harry and Percy. I've already typed quite a bit of it out already for the other books. I'm not going to waste my effort and give up. I'm very stubborn that way.**

**To Wolf's Willow: Vena's story will be told at the end of book one. I promise. And "Vena" is pronounced "Veh-na". Just to clear that up.**

**To lmao234: Nico doesn't know everything. He's in the dark about many things. My Story-Nico just has a thirst for information. He's read about the Egyptian gods. He doesn't have any contact with that world. I'm not adding the Kane Chronicles to this story, even though I love that one a lot.**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: I hadn't really seen it that way. Interesting... I'm still learning Egyptian mythology so I don't want to add anything that I don't understand. That doesn't mean they may not be mentioned though. They can come up in discussion, just not in plot.**

**To toe walker: (when I first read the name, I thought it was joe walker) Well, after reading the books so many times, I tend to understand them well. I could almost predict what they were going to do in the actual books. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**

**~o~**

**Okay, that's all.**

**I took a bit of my childhood and made it into Hermione's. By the time I was one, I already knew my ABC's by heart and could count to ten quite well. I could read very quickly by five years. Everyone else in the class always read slow. It was annoying. I think that's why I forced myself to read better so I wouldn't be one of them. I got a little two smart and they put me in the advanced class.**

**As for Conner and Travis knowing how to cook, that was a detail I planned for another story. I have it on my profile in the debatable section if you want to know about it.**

**And, for some strange reason, I can't stop listening to "Starships." I don't like the song that much, yet I've been listening to it all day. O_o**

**I'm eating parsad right now, so I couldn't help but add that in with Vena and Apollo. I love parsad, it really does taste good. *eats some more***

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	15. I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.**

**Okay, here's a heads-up for you guys. I have exams coming up this week, so I don't know when I'll be uploading the next chapter. On Monday, I have four different ones. I think the teachers are trying to kill us with pressure. At least I only have to worry about 7 subjects. Scratch that; 8 subjects. So, if you don't see any updates in the week, I'm sorry, but I have to go study right now.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus**

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the demigods and wizards to go to bed after Harry, Percy, and Rachel strung together a convincing lie to explain how they got lost; mostly it was Rachel. The dining cart had filled up with sandwiches for a light supper, in which they all chatted about the statues they had seen. After that, they got up and called it a night.

**~o~**

Nico looked out his window at the night sky, with was now shaded dark crimson and black. It reminded him of home: the Underworld. He stomach began to clench at the thought of his father finding out he had lost control of his powers again. He wasn't going to be pleased. He looked around at his dark room. The walls were black, stenciled with silver impressions of cherry blossoms, his favorite tree to look at when he went to Japan.

**~o~**

Percy Jackson fell asleep the minute his head hit his pillow, but Harry was wide awake, as was Ginny. They both lay in their beds, staring up at the ceiling with wonder, not just thinking of what they had seen in the house and what they had read, but also of each other. Harry was wondering how to talk to Ginny, and Ginny was wondering if Harry didn't really like her anymore. He was always avoiding her nowadays...

**~o~**

In the room opposite his, Thalia rifled through the wardrobe, looking for something comfortable to wear. She had to hand it to the Owner of Star; whoever it was knew her taste well. She found a baggy red t-shirt with the slogan "**Green Day 21st Century Breakdown**" on it and black cotton shorts. She liked her room; it reminded her of a hunter's tent with its walls painted to resemble canvas and the carpet made to look like lush grass. She put her diadem on the night stand on the bed next to her and turned out the light.

**~o~**

Percy Weasley and Annabeth Chase had similar rooms: plain white walls, light wood floor, plain furniture and burgundy-curtained windows. There was a bookshelf on the wall opposite the beds, except that Annabeth's books were of Greek Myths while Percy had wizard books. Annabeth looked through the book titles, wondering if any would help her out with discovering whose home she was in.

**~o~**

Hermione liked her room. It reminded her of the one she used to have at her old home: lilac walls and a smooth gray carpet. The furniture was painted white, but there were two plush chairs the color of teal. There was a small bookcase filled with her favorite books and a writing desk with her a vase of her favorite flowers: tulips. There were a few framed wall hangings depicting her favorite places in England and Paris.

**~o~**

Ron's room was orange. Orange walls, orange carpet, orange bed-spread — all like the one he had at the Burrow. The only difference was that this one was bigger. He was glad to have posters of the Chudley Cannons around; one had the old motto "_We shall conquer_" and the other had the new motto "_Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best_". It reminded him of home. **[A/N: I found that extremely funny on HP wiki.]**

**~o~**

Rachel found that her room was almost exactly like the one she had at camp. The walls were made to look like brown cave walls, but cleaner, and there was fine modern technology everywhere. Rachel made a mental note never to let the Stolls in there.

**~o~**

Speaking of the Stolls, Conner and Travis loved their own rooms. Travis had pale green walls while Conner had lemon yellow walls and brown carpeted floors, black furniture, and a linked bathroom which they didn't mind having. The floor was littered with all sorts of video games and Wii, even DVDs of different movies. Conner went in Travis' room and the two watched _Rush Hour_ until 11 o'clock.

**~o~**

Grover's room was designed to resemble the wild. Forest woods were painted on the walls; calming shades of rich brown, gentle greens, and relaxing blues. There was even the sound of a waterfall in the air and it smelled sweetly of strawberries and juniper. There was even a platter of tin cans by the bedside table. Grover loved the room.

**~o~**

Luna's room was more mismatched, but she enjoyed it. The floor was simple white stone with no carpet. The bed was fit for one with a quilt made from a variety of colors like a rainbow. The walls were decorated with pictures of Luna's favorite magical and normal animals, as well as recreational and interesting scenery, like Stonehenge. One the writing desk was a picture of her three-year-old self with her mother Aldora and father Xeno. There was another with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. Another with a few other members of the DA, like Fred and George, and Padma Patil. To her pleasant surprise, she found one of Conner and Travis when they were younger (Conner was missing a tooth and Travis' hair was longer). Only then did she realize that the table was covered with the word "**_Friends_**".

**~o~**

George had gotten ready for bed without looking around the room. He had had a good look at it before he left that morning. The walls were plain purple with flecks of orange as if someone had just splattered the color on with caring. There were a few items from his joke shop lying around, like _Aviatomobile_ — a flying toy car, _Extendable Ears_, _Patented Daydream Charms_, _Skiving Snackboxes_, _Trick Wands_, and _Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs_ were a few to be named. George sighed and picked up a box of _Patented Daydream Charms_. He wanted to get out his head for a while.

**~o~**

Neville closed the door to the bathroom and sat down at his bed. His room was plain ordinary: mint colored walls, white carpet, white furniture, neat and proper bed sheets like the ones at home. Neville took off his slippers and crawled into bed. He looked at his nightstand where "_The Odyssey_" was sitting innocently.

"It wouldn't hurt to read it," he muttered to himself. He picked it up and turned to the front page. After reading the preface, with he found useful on knowing which Olympian was which, he turned to the page of the first chapter.

"_**Odysseus sails for Ithaca**_," he muttered to himself. "**Chapter One: Polyphemus the Cyclops**." The rest he read in his head.

**After their ten-year-long war with the men of Troy was ended and the Trojan city had fallen in flames and smoke, the victorious Greeks gathered together their booty and their prisoners; and when the great King Agamemnon, who was in charge of all the Grecian host, had given the word, one by one all those leaders of the Greeks who had survived the fighting boarded their ships and set sail for home.**

Within ten minutes, Neville's eyes were wide.

**At dawn Polyphemus rekindled the fire and milked his ewes and goats again. That done, he snatched up two more of Odysseus' men and ate them as a wild beast might have done. Then he rolled aside the great stone from the mouth of the cave and drove out his flocks; and replacing the stone once more, he went towards the mountain pastures, whistling cheerfully at the thought of the good supper which awaited his return.**

"I think I'm going to be sick," Neville mumbled dryly. "I'm definitely having nightmares tonight..."

* * *

Vena sat in her library, giggling.

"Poor Neville," she said to herself. "And to think that almost happened to Grover, Clarisse, Percy and Annabeth... I wonder what he would think then."

She curled up in a chair and closed her eyes. Apollo had left to do his_ job_ on earth, part of which was a date with a mortal girl, but she knew he'd be back soon. She sighed at the thought. She honestly loved the guy, but knew that it would be near impossible to truly love him with his behavior.

"_My heart is wounded — my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry..._" she sang softly to herself.

* * *

Everyone woke up at eight o'clock the next morning. At least they thought it was eight o'clock.

They had no choice but to wake up at the same time, basically because Vena had magically opened their windows to let the bright sunshine of the golden sun into their bedrooms. One by one they were shocked awake, blinking rapidly from the morning light.

"_Argh!_" Ron groaned, shielding his eyes away. "What the bloody hell?"

"Who turned the lights on?" Percy and Nico wailed in unison.

"Turn off the sun!" Travis cried out so loudly that everyone heard him. All the grumbling stopped.

Then Conner's voice was heard. "_Turn off the sun?_ What the _Hades_ is wrong with you?"

"Hey! Leave my father's name out of this!"

Everyone else was silently laughing.

**[A/N: My mother told me that once. I thought she was crazy.]**

* * *

The girls and the guys were all delighted to have their own bathrooms. That meant they didn't have to share with anyone. How all these rooms fit together was a mystery. Annabeth studied the structure and came to realize that the architectural detail didn't match up. It was like every room had magical expansions.

They all went and took a bath and put on fresh clothes. Breakfast magically appeared by their bedsides, each with the same message:

_**Good morning all. Sorry about the abrupt awakening, but it's mid-morning. Time to get up. Courtesy of Star's owner and myself, here's your favorite breakfast. I hope you're well. Apollo.**_

Many got scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, sandwiches or cereal — or in Grover's case, a salad and three aluminum cans. Unlike most of the readers, Percy got blue waffles and eggs with blueberry juice. He decided to forgive the sudden awakening the minute he saw it.

* * *

"Guys! Time to go downstairs!" Hermione called out about an hour later.

The girls all immediately left their bedrooms to go downstairs. The guys lingered behind until Thalia threatened to find them and zap them unless they came down on their own terms. They all hastily did so and took their old seats. That's when they realized that someone was missing.

"Have you seen Nico?" Rachel asked.

"He must not have come out of his room yet," Percy said. Then he shouted, "_Nico! Where are you?_"

"Percy, not so loud!" Annabeth protested, covering her ears along with everyone else.

Nico's voice called back down, equally as loud, "_I'll be down in a minute! Sheesh!_"

"What's sheesh?" Ron asked.

"It's an aggravated sound you make," Hermione told him.

* * *

Nico looked around at Apollo. "Are you sure I can drink that?" he asked, pointing to the bottle in Apollo's hand. It was twice the size of a nail polish bottle and filled with blood-red liquid. Apollo poured it into a flask with a substance that Nico was certain to be alcohol again.

"You have to, Nico," Apollo said. "If you can't take it while reading, then you have to drink it down now, before you go. And again at lunch."

"I don't like taking this raw or with—" he sniffed the flask Apollo had given him and coughed. "Dad always gives me with root beer, not vodka."

"It was the first thing I could grab," Apollo said. "I'll get you wine next time, but could you hurry up?"

"Yes, sir," Nico said. He opened the flask, gagged, took a deep breath, and then gulped down the Tonic in three mouthfuls. He chocked after that.

Apollo put his hand by Nico's throat. His fingers glowed gold for a few seconds and Nico stopped coughing.

"Thanks," Nico said, handing Apollo the empty bottle. "I still prefer root beer."

"Okay, I'll get you root beer next time," Apollo said before he summoned another bottle. "Drink this."

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"Grape juice. You're breath smells."

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" Ron whined.

"What's taking who so long?" They all looked around to see Nico tromping down the stairs. He was dressed in the same jacket he wore yesterday, but his jeans were white and his t-shirt was burgundy.

"Whoa, he's wearing color," Travis joked as Nico sat between Thalia and Rachel.

"You didn't expect me to wear the same clothes I did yesterday, did you?" he asked skeptically.

Travis didn't answer. They were all wearing new clothes. Percy was wearing another tropical shirt — green and orange this time — and khaki pants. Annabeth wore a blue spaghetti-strap top and white shorts. Grover was wearing brown jeans and a plain beige t-shirt and no hat. Thalia was wearing a black tank top and dark gray jeans that ripped at the knee. Rachel was wearing a red and green plaid shirt and blue jeans. Conner wore a purple t-shirt and khaki shorts while Travis donned an orange sleeveless tee and brown jeans.

The Brits were dressed almost similarly. They all wore blue jeans, except for Luna who wore a white skirt and long green socks that reached her knees along with a yellow jumper. Perce wore a dark blue jumper; George — light blue shirt; Neville — a green cardigan; Ron — a plaid shirt; Hermione — a long-sleeved violet t-shirt; Ginny — a red strapless top; Harry — a simple gray shirt.

"Wow, we look odd not dressed by Aphrodite," Conner commented.

"No we don't," Percy objected.

"Did everyone already have breakfast?" Annabeth asked, switching the subject.

"Yes," everyone said.

"I like the room service thing," Travis grinned. "Very hospitable."

"I agree," Grover said.

"So, who's turn is it?" Rachel asked, holding up the blue book.

"I'll read," George volunteered.

His siblings looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" Perce asked.

"Yeah," George said, taking the book from Rachel. "It's okay."

His siblings didn't look to sure.

George open the book to the right page and cleared his throat. "**I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus**," he said. He paused and looked up at Percy. "What did you do now?"

Percy groaned as everyone laughed. "Just read George."

George shrugged and turned to the book.

**It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.**

"I didn't _find_ them, I _bought_ them," Grover said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, thanks," Percy said with a smirk.

"A couple years too late, buddy," Grover laughed.

**The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions — whatever that meant.**

"They actually came in handy," Percy said. "Well, not these, but the others."

"True," Grover nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"It will come up later."

**He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.**

"I would hate to die that way," Ron shuddered.

"I'd hate to die, _period_," George grumbled. His siblings winced. They knew how sensitive he was about death.

**Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.**

"_The Mist_, Percy, _the Mist_," Annabeth sighed. "Do you ever learn?"

"Does it ever mention me understanding everything about this?" Percy grumbled.

"Point taken."

**Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.**

Grover chuckled. "Ah, they did sound horrible, didn't they?" he admitted.

"Pretty much," Annabeth said. "But you're getting better. Just choose new songs."

**We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

"Oh sure, just casually throw that in there," Thalia groaned.

"I'm sorry," Percy winced. "What did you want me to call you?"

"Pinecone Face." Nico grinned.

Thalia snorted. "Shut up, you!"

**Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.**

**"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."**

"That joke got old," Conner sighed.

**I heard footsteps behind us.**

**Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.**

Grover's eyes narrowed at the mention of the shoes.

**"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."**

**Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.**

Annabeth covered her face. Had she been that obvious about her crush? Percy sighed and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly.

"It's not your fault," she replied.

**"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."**

**He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.**

"How else were they supposed to smell?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"I had a feeling they weren't normal sneakers so I didn't know what to expect," Percy said sheepishly.

**Luke said, "_Maia!_"**

**White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.**

"That sounds so cool!" Ron exclaimed.

"It's a good idea for the shop," George muttered to himself. "Flying shoes..."

**"Awesome!" Grover said.**

**Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." His expression turned sad.**

**I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days. But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth.**

"I wasn't blushing that much!" Annabeth protested.

"Yes, you were," Percy chuckled.

"Hmph!" Annabeth folded her arms and glared at him. He smiled back innocently.

**"Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."**

**"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"**

**We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.**

"Will you stop it!" she squealed as everyone fell to bouts of laughter.

"It's the book, not me!" Percy said with his hands raised.

"It's in the book _because_ of you!" Annabeth said, turning pink.

"Hey, I couldn't control it," Percy said.

"Definitely Ron and Hermione over there," Neville muttered. Only Harry and Ginny heard him and grinned.

"You could have tried," Annabeth pointed out.

"How was I supposed to know we'd be reading my thoughts?" Percy asked. "I'm not the Oracle."

"Oh, you leave me out of this," Rachel said quickly as she raised her hands, causing Thalia and Nico to laugh hysterically.

**After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."**

"Do you know how to shut your mouth?" Annabeth said in a pleading voice. "I don't want to murder my boyfriend before the end of this book!"

"Huh," Percy said, giving it a thought. Then he turned to Grover. "Switch seats with me."

Grover looked appalled. "What? Why me?"

"Your my Keeper, right? That means you have to protect me. Now switch!"

Everyone started laughing at the dismayed expression on Grover's face. Ron held his stomach as he tried to breath and the Stolls had fallen on the floor next to Luna.

"I'm not switching with you!" Grover protested.

"I don't want to die!" Percy retorted.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and put her arm around Percy's waist, holding him down into the seat with her. Everyone laughed at his expression and George took his chance to continue reading.

**"Am not."**

**"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"**

**"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road.**

"Wow, and I thought I knew how to piss off a girl," Ron marveled. Hermione rolled her eyes and nudged him hard in the ribs.

**Argus followed, jingling his car keys.**

**I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"**

**He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."**

**I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"**

Grover turned to glare at Percy.

"You gave him the shoes?" Neville asked. "That was nice of you."

"Yeah," Grover said slowly. "_Real_ _nice_ of him."

Annabeth and Percy bit back chuckles at his annoyed expression.

**His eyes lit up. "Me?"**

"You seemed excited about it," Percy laughed.

"What a fool I was," Grover muttered to himself.

**Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.**

"I'm not a rocket ship!" Grover protested, causing those who understood to fall into silent giggles.

**"_Maia!_" he shouted.**

**He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.**

**"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"**

**"_Aaaaa!_" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.**

"Now that must have been a sight!" Harry chortled.

"It wasn't funny," Grover said.

"Yes it was!" Percy and Annabeth disagreed.

"That's because you didn't have to wear them!" Grover said, miffed. That didn't stop everyone's mirth.

**Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason — they all got more training."**

"Shouldn't you guys call him Heracles?" Nico asked. "Hercules is the Roman equivalent."

"Most people call him Hercules," Annabeth said. "It's much more familiar than Heracles."

Nico shrugged at that. He preferred to call him Heracles.

Thalia frowned at the mention of Jason. Her little brother had been named after him.

**"That's okay. I just wish—"**

**I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.**

**"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."**

**He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.**

"Considering what it can do, I think it's worth more than thirty cents," Travis laughed.

"I didn't recognize it as Riptide at first," Percy said, scratching his chin sheepishly.

**"Gee," I said. "Thanks."**

"Don't be ungrateful," Annabeth chided him.

"I wasn't, I was just confused," Percy protested.

**"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."**

**I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be...?**

"Now you're getting it," Conner said approvingly.

Everyone looked at the Stolls in surprise. They hadn't realized that they had chosen to sit on the ground with Luna.

"Why are you two down there?" Neville asked.

"It's comfortable." Travis shrugged.

Conner nodded and smiled at Luna, who smiled back.

**I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.**

**"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me.**

"Zoë," Percy whispered to himself. Annabeth, Grover and Thalia heard him and sighed, remembering the old lieutenant of Artemis.

**"Its name is Anaklusmos."**

**"'Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.**

"It was killing me for days," Percy said with a grimace.

**"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."**

**I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"**

**"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.**

"Thank the gods for that," Rachel said.

"Why, did you almost get cut?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, but that's another story," Rachel said. No one noticed the sheepish expression on Percy's face except Harry.

'_I wonder if it has something to do with him_,' he wondered to himself.

**And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."**

"Good to know." Harry winced.

George grinned. "Harry, let me do the talking."

"What?" Harry asked. George raised his hand and read:

**"Good to know."**

"This really needs to stop," Percy sighed. Everyone snorted with amusement.

**"Now recap the pen."**

**I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.**

**"You can't," Chiron said.**

"Can't what?" Ginny asked. "Did I miss something?"

George sighed. "Oh boy," he groaned.

"What is it?" Perce asked.

"This," George said.

**"Can't what?"**

"Oh Merlin!" Ginny exclaimed, covering her face.

"I'm not alone!" Harry laughed.

"Shut up!" Ginny snapped, blushing to the roots of her hair.

**"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."**

**I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.**

**"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket."**

**Sure enough, the pen was there.**

"Don't anyone say it's cool because Percy does!" George warned.

Ron, Conner, Travis, and Neville closed their mouths.

**"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"**

**Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."**

**"Mist?"**

**"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."**

**I put Riptide back in my pocket.**

**For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone.**

"What's a cell phone?" Ron asked.

"Mobile phone," Hermione said. "Like a portable telephone."

"Oh, thanks," Ron said, smiling at her.

Conner leaned over to Travis and whisper, "How does he not know that?"

Travis shrugged.

**(Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.)**

Hermione pursed her lips at this. "Nothing is safe for your guys, it is?" she asked.

"Nope," Thalia said.

**I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.**

**"Chiron ..." I said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"**

**"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."**

**"So what was it like ... before the gods?"**

"Nothing good." The demigods grimaced.

"I take it that the titans' rule was horrible, right?" Hermione asked. Annabeth nodded.

**Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment.**

"They ate humans?" The Brits groaned with disgust.

Neville wanted to gag. He read about a cyclops eating humans already. He didn't need to hear about Titans doing the same thing.

"And they kept them for entertainment?" Ron gagged. "What'd they do, make them dance on hot coals?"

"Maybe," Thalia said coldly. "But what would you expect the males to do to the woman? And it wasn't nice."

Everyone on both sides turned green.

"I think I'm really going to be sick," Neville muttered.

"Reading now," George said, feeling the bile creep up in his throat.

**It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall.**

"Yeah, and look what happened," Thalia sighed, thinking to how Prometheus had joined Kronos. It had always puzzled her when he had they would be defeated and they weren't. Maybe he had been trying to scare them.

**Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."**

**"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up every thing, right?"**

"Wrong!" The Demigods said in union.

"Isn't that optimistic," Ginny muttered.

**Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure end less pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive.**

A few people grimaced.

**May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."**

**"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."**

**"Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."**

**"Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."**

"No I wasn't," Percy grumbled. "He put that on my shoulders and expected me to relax?"

"I know the feeling," Harry said darkly.

**When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.**

"You act like this happens every day," Perce said, smirking.

"With us, it does," Conner shrugged.

**Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall.**

"I got the same feeling when I went to the Wizarding World and cam back to the muggle one," Harry said, smiling. "After seeing so many magical things, normalcy is too surreal."

Everyone nodded in agreement. It was always something to get used to a magical life and return to a normal one. It was never the same again.

**"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."**

"Don't jinx it!" Travis warned. "Conner did that a lot on our first trip to camp. You would not _believe_ the trouble we had!"

"Something tells me that it would have happened anyway," Conner grumbled. He still didn't think it was his fault. Travis glared at him, and Conner glared right back.

Luna patted their shoulders and the brothers stopped glaring at each other to smile at her.

"Does Luna have some sort of ability to tame those two?" Annabeth whispered to her friends in surprise.

"Apparently," Grover whispered back, impressed. "When did that happen?"

None of them knew the answer.

**She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."**

**"Remind me again — why do you hate me so much?"**

**"I don't hate you."**

**"Could've fooled me."**

Annabeth shot Percy an amused smile.

**She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."**

**"Why?"**

**She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful.**

"Yeah, and don't we know the result for that," Grover grumbled.

"You know, I think you're the one who jinxed this trip," Percy whispered to Annabeth in a teasing voice.

"Why do you say that?" Annabeth whispered back.

"Well, for one thing, you bring up the incident with Medusa and we meet her by the end of the day," Percy said softly, chuckling.

"Oh, shut up." Annabeth giggled and nudged him the ribs.

**Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."**

"He did that on purpose," Rachel muttered to herself. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. "Did I just say that?"

Everyone stared at Rachel in surprise. It wasn't because of what she said, it was because it wasn't her voice.

"What was that?" Everyone asked. Harry and Percy's eyes narrowed. That sounded like Vena's voice.

"Um, nothing," Rachel muttered, voice back to normal.

"That didn't sound like nothing," Hermione said. "That wasn't your voice."

"Just forget it, okay," Rachel pleaded. She met Harry's and Percy's gazes and sent out a silent plea.

"Leave her alone, guys," Percy said.

"But—" Ginny started to say but she was cut off.

"She doesn't want to talk about it," Harry said firmly, in the same voice he used in DA lessons. "Leave her alone."

Everyone seemed surprised that Harry and Percy were agreeing with Rachel to ignore the interruption, but the looks on their faces was enough for them to know that no questions would be allowed. Annabeth, Grover, Ron, and Hermione decided to postpone their inquiries for later, carefully eyeing the three individuals.

"George?" Harry asked. "Read please."

George nodded. "Okay. Let's see. '_So the named the city after her_.' Right."

**"They must really like olives."**

"That wasn't it," Annabeth said. "Olives had plenty uses. It could be made in food and the oils could be used as treatment."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said, not interested in talking about it.

**"Oh, forget it."**

**"Now, if she'd invented pizza — that I could understand."**

**"I said, forget it!"**

Travis and Conner snorted. "Like any pizza she'd make would be better than ours," Conner said proudly.

**In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.**

"That is so weird," Hermione muttered.

**Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.**

**Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?**

"Oh great," Perce sighed. "I almost forgot your a wanted man."

"And it's not by women," Travis teased.

"Shut it you," Percy said coolly, knowing that Annabeth would gut him if she could.

**I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.**

"It was the first thing I saw when I got out of the vehicle," Grover said.

"We just didn't want to say anything," Annabeth added.

"Thanks, Percy said.

**Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.**

**I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.**

**Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"**

**I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or some thing?"**

"Someone once told me that the mind is not a book to be read," Harry said suddenly. Then he blinked. "Never mind."

"That's called telepathy by muggles, or Occlumency by wizards," Luna said. "Thoughts cannot be read. They can heard and seen."

No one answered her, though Harry agreed with her, so George continued reading.

**"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"**

**I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me.**

"He has a girlfriend," Travis said. "You didn't mention Juniper."

"I wasn't dating Juniper yet," Grover said, blushing.

"Who's Juniper?" Ginny asked.

"A dryad," Annabeth said. "Tree nymph."

**"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura. Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."**

Everyone gagged.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Ginny said, turning green.

"Not on us!" Travis declared, moving himself, Conner, and Luna away from her.

"Just breathe, Ginny," Harry said, rubbing circles on her back.

Ginny half-smiled. "I can't smell it, but the very idea of it makes me want to puke. And I've been in Ron's room."

"Hey!" Ron protested angrily.

George snorted with amusement.

**"Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"**

Everyone sent Percy amused glances. He shrugged like it was no big deal.

**"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you.**

"Wow," Hermione said. "That was actually a smart decision. Disgusting and utterly repulsive, but clever to hide you."

"My mother definitely has brains," Percy nodded.

"Why didn't you get them?" Thalia asked innocently.

"Ha-ha," Percy said. "At least I didn't get my father's pride."

Thalia scowled. "At least I didn't get my father's laziness."

"Poseidon is _not_ lazy!"

"He wears Hawaiian clothes and drinks fruit punches on the beach every day. He's _always_ relaxing!"

"What's your point?"

Nico sighed. "If you two are going to start arguing again, tell me now so I can whack you over the head." He smiled innocently at the glares he received.

"We're talking about this later," Percy declared to Thalia.

**She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy — if that makes you feel any better."**

**It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it.**

"I could feel your emotions anyway, so that didn't help."

"..._Thanks_ Grover."

"No problem."

**I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone.**

'_Wow, he really holds on to that_,' Nico thought.

**I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were.**

"They weren't _that_ mixed up," Grover said. "It was your thoughts. Sometimes your thoughts don't add up to your emotions. You can think of something terrifying yet be completely at ease and happy. Honestly, you were just determined and confused."

**I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest.**

**The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done.**

"Percy," several people sighed.

"I know, I know."

**All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.**

**You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.**

**_Shut up_, I told it.**

"He's talking to himself," Annabeth sighed. Percy blushed.

"I've been there," Harry sighed.

Everyone, except Percy, looked at him like he'd gone mad.

"You've spoken to yourself?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Sometimes, when I brood too much," Harry said. "I end up seeing two different sides to a situation and just argue with myself. It's like a debate between the side that is rational, and other that is impulsive."

Hermione and Ron stared at him. "That explains how you always come to your conclusions," they said together.

Harry scowled. "Thanks."

**The rain kept coming down.**

**We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared — core, stem, and all.**

Everyone laughed at the blushing satyr between Percy and Thalia.

**Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.**

"And you're still laughing at me," he whined.

"It was funny!" Percy said helplessly.

**Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy — enchiladas.**

**"What is it?" I asked.**

**"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."**

**But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.**

**I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our back packs. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.**

**As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.**

**"Percy."**

**An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.**

**It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.**

"What's she doing there?" Ginny asked, appalled.

"She didn't stay dead for long," Neville added.

"Nope," Nico said. "She's dad's servant. Whenever she's vanquished, he always summons her essence back because she has work to do. Most of the time it's instantaneous."

"How do you know that?" Luna asked.

Nico smiled sheepishly. "Um, there was one time when Bellerophon was teaching me—"

"Bellerophon?" Annabeth asked. "As in one of the greatest heroes of all time? Slayer of the Chimera?"

"Yeah, him," Nico said nonchalantly. "Anyways, he was teaching me to throw a spear, but I didn't get it quite right. Instead of hitting the dummy I was given, it went off course and hit Alecto instead. Of course, she was killed and Dad had to call her back. It happened again with Tisiphone when Bellerophon tried to teach me archery. That's when the sisters decided to keep a distance from me when I was training."

Almost everyone was cracking up.

"It's not funny," Nico said, pouting.

"Of course it's not," Thalia said, rubbing his shoulder in a mocking gesture.

"Knock it off," he said, shrugging away from her.

**I scrunched down in my seat.**

**Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds - same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.**

"You had to go up against all THREE of them?" Conner asked with a high pitch. Then he coughed and said in a normal voice. "The Three Kindly Ones?"

"Yep," Grover said.

**They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.**

"They really shouldn't be obvious about that," Nico said, rolling his eyes.

**The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."**

**"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."**

"I wonder why Tyche doesn't like you," Thalia said.

"Who?" Perce asked.

"Goddess of Luck," Annabeth said.

"There's a goddess of luck?" Ron whispered to Hermione in surprise.

"Apparently." Hermione shrugged.

"Our sister has always been like that with demigods," Travis sigh.

"Tyche's your sister?" Neville asked incredulously.

"Yeah, she's the daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite," Conner said. "Some think she was an Oceanid, but that's not true."

"I just hope that it doesn't mean I'm not related to Drew," Travis said.

"Who's Drew?" Ginny asked.

"Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite," Travis said menacingly. "Ever since that curse, I have never liked her."

"Guys, give it a rest, we're reading," Annabeth said. The brothers scowled but stopped speaking.

**"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "_Di immortales!_"**

**"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."**

**"They don't open," Grover moaned.**

**"A back exit?" she suggested.**

**There wasn't one.**

"Yep, Tyche isn't in a good mood with you."

"Conner, I don't think he wants to hear that now."

"Oh. You're right, Luna. Sorry Percy."

"It's okay."

**Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.**

**"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said. "Will they?"**

**"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."**

**"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"**

**She thought about it. "Hard to say.**

"'Hard to say'?"

"Not now, Ron."

**But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof...?"**

**We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain. Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."**

**"So do I," said the second sister.**

**"So do I," said the third sister.**

"That's their excuse?" Nico asked in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not," Percy said.

Nico scoffed. "Simply pathetic. They couldn't be more obvious."

**They all started coming down the aisle.**

**"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."**

**"What?"**

**"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."**

**"But you guys -"**

**"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."**

**"I can't just leave you."**

**"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"**

**My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on.**

**When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore.**

"That's happened to me with me cloak," Harry said, grinning. "There are a few times where I just throw it around my shoulders and look in the mirror. I see my head in mid-air."

Ron laughed while Hermione tutted. "You almost gave me a heart-attack once," she said.

"Sorry."

**I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past.**

**Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding.**

"She probably sensed you, but since she couldn't see you, she'd probably dismiss it," Nico said. "I do that with shadows sometimes. I've scared her twice."

"What happened afterwards?" Thalia asked.

"I get locked in my room," Nico said glumly.

**Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.**

**I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.**

**The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same — I guess those couldn't get any uglier — but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.**

Thalia winced at the mention of the whips.

**The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "_Where is it?_ _Where?_"**

"Don't they mean 'where is he?'" Hermione asked.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Sort of," she said. "They weren't just looking for Percy."

"What else were they looking for?" Harry asked.

"We can't tell you," Grover said.

"Why not?" Ron asked impatiently.

"It would spoil everything," Percy said.

"Cheaters," Ron grumbled. Hermione planted a comforting kiss on his cheek, calming him down.

**The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right.**

**"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"**

**The Furies raised their whips.**

**Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.**

"Grover, what kind of weapon is that?" Travis asked.

"Leave me alone," Grover grumbled, bringing up a lot of laughter.

**What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.**

**The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror. Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left.**

"You're mad!" Hermione gasped.

"I think we've already established that," Percy sighed.

**Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.**

**"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey — _whoa!_"**

**We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.**

"You can cause serious damage," Hermione said. "You're not just endangering yourself _and_ your friends, but _innocent_ people as well!"

"No one was hurt," Percy said.

"Lucky chance," she mumbled.

Travis leaned towards Conner and Luna and said, "Tyche likes mortals more than us, apparently."

**We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.**

Hermione and Harry winced.

**Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.**

**Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.**

**The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.**

"Shouldn't the driver wait to see that the other passengers are out?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but he was panicking," Percy said.

**The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.**

**I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap. "_Hey!_"**

**The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.**

"Something like that should not exist," Ron grimaced.

"There are worser weapons, Ron," Ginny said softly.

**Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.**

**"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."**

**"I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her.**

**She growled.**

**Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.**

**I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword.**

**The Furies hesitated.**

**Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.**

"She doesn't like seeing any weapon used against her," Nico informed him. "Usually she likes to take them to Punishment and destroys them in lava."

"Good to know," Percy said, mentally noting to himself never to let Riptide get out of his sight in the presence of the Furies. There was not guarantee that it would come back to him if it was thrown in lava.

**"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."**

**"Nice try," I told her.**

**"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.**

**Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.**

Nico winced. "I've been there buddy," he groaned. "I can sympathize."

"What did you do?" Percy asked, appalled.

"You know how I said that Bellerophon trains me?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, there was this one time after the archery incident when I accidentally shot a javelin at Alecto," Nico grimaced. "She wasn't even supposed to be there. Usually they stay away. Anyway, it missed her and hit Megaera instead. She got really mad. Dad punished her for whipping me."

"She whipped you?" Luna asked in a horrified voice.

"Just the once," Nico said. "Dad was so furious, he caused an earthquake in Inglewood, California. At least there were no fatalities."

"What happened after that?" Neville asked in concern.

"I learned never to train when those three were around ever again," Nico said. "It was a few months ago in May."

"You're okay, right?" Hermione asked.

Nico waved his hand. "Oh, I'm fine," he said dismissively. "With some nectar, ambrosia, and sleep, I was ready to run about in two days."

**My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust.**

"One on the right?" Nico asked. "Your right or Alecto's?"

"Alecto's," Percy said. "Why?"

"Nothing," Nico said, grinning. "That was Megaera. She always stands on Alecto's right. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Percy laughed.

**Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.**

**"Ow!" he yelled. "_Ow! Hot! Hot!_"**

"What did you except it to be?" Thalia asked sarcastically. "Cold?"

"No," Grover said, blushing. "I was holding the handle. I knew the thing was hot, but I was just expecting the handle to be warm."

"Heat doesn't affect them since they usually work in Punishment," Nico said. "She could handle the hot handle without problem."

"Now you tell me," Grover grumbled.

**The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.**

"Bye-bye Tisiphone!" Nico said happily.

He sounded so child-like that it was impossible for the others not to laugh. George had to bit his lower lip so he would not laugh and talk at the same time.

"Are you supposed to be behave like that to your dad's subjects?" Conner asked.

"Not really, but I don't like them," Nico said, shrugging.

**Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip.**

"Go Grover!" Travis cheered. "You finally figured out how to handle the whip properly."

A few people snorted with laughter while Grover simply rolled his eyes.

**Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.**

**"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"**

**"_Braccas meas vescimini!_" I yelled.**

"You spoke Latin?" Perce asked.

"Yeah," Percy said. "How do you know Latin?"

"Oh, many wizards' spells are derived from Latin words and phrases," Perce said. "I studied the language as a hobby. I'm doing quite well at it."

"Hmm," Annabeth said. The she spoke in Latin: "_That is impressive. How many languages do you know?_"

"_I know seven_," Percy said back in equal tongue.

"_Which ones?_" Nico asked in the same language.

"English, Latin, Runes, French, Spanish, Irish Gaelic, and I'm still learning German," Percy replied in English.

"_Some of those are complicated_," Annabeth noted in Latin.

"_They're worth learning_," Perce said, switching to the same tongue. "_They help with my job when I have to confer with workers from Ireland, Spain, France, and so on_."

"Percy, speak English, will ya," Ron whined. "It's really irritating to hear you talk and not know what you're saying."

"He wasn't talking to you, Ron," Ginny pointed out.

"What's your point?" Ron asked rudely.

Ginny rolled her eyes and muttered something in Runes, causing Perce, Luna, and Hermione to cover their mouths in surprise.

"Aw, not you too!" Ron exclaimed. Harry and Neville grinned at him as Ginny shrugged.

"What did she say?" George asked Perce.

"She called him a pizzle," Perce said.

Those who understood, like Hermione, Luna, Annabeth, Thalia, and Rachel, all looked down at the ground, blushing. Those who didn't, like the others, looked confused.

"What's that?" Conner asked.

"If you don't know, lucky you," Thalia said.

"I didn't know Ginny took Ancient Runes," George muttered as he turned back to the book.

"You're lucky Mum isn't here, Ginny," Perce said. Ginny shrugged.

**I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant "_Eat my pants!_"**

"Where did you learn that?" Luna asked. "Latin class?"

"It's natural for demigods to know a few Latin phrases," Annabeth explained. "It's in our blood to know the Greek language fluently. Latin — not so much."

**Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.**

**"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement.**

**We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!"**

"That's just over-dramatic," Travis said, scoffing.

**A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.**

"Just your luck," Harry groaned, rubbing his neck.

"What can I say? Tyche hates me," Percy said. "For reasons I don't know."

**"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our -"**

_**BOOOOOM!**_

**The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.**

**"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"**

**We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.**

"There, I'm done," George said, feeling proud that he remained in an undepressed mood thorough the entire chapter. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Neville volunteered, taking the book from him.

"So let me get this straight," Rachel said. "You're on a quest; you get attacked by Kindly Ones; you lose your supplies; and now you run into the woods?"

"What else were we going to do?" Percy asked. "Staying around would be mean facing the cops."

"But now you're at a disadvantage," Hermione added.

"It happens all the time on quests," Thalia said.

"I can't believe this is considered normal," Ron muttered.

"What would you consider normal, Ron?" Harry asked. "As far as I know, we don't have normal in the Wizarding World."

"Yeah, but we don't have to go through all that!" Ron protested.

"Neville, read before he starts arguing," Ginny said. "It's too early in the morning for that."

Neville laughed at turned to the book.

* * *

**That's the end of that chapter. It was shorter than the others. I don't like this chapter, so I didn't know what to do with it.**

**I listened to Maddi Jane's Barricade through writing the last section of this. Is that weird or is it just me?**

**Anyways, thank you to all of you who reviewed on the last chapter. I'm sorry it wasn't a reading. Next time I'll give you a warning beforehand so you know what to expect. I'm going to keep the answering questions short (hopefully).  
**

**To Sakra: You're so right. I don't want to meet Thanatos' door anytime soon (though that would help in the HoO series). I just couldn't resist a friendship between the Stolls and Luna. It just seems so fun.  
**

**To Taka: I hoped that chapter who explain a few details, but that's barely scratching the surface. I'm still planning out the other's reaction to Apollo. I hope it's going to be good.  
**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: I'm not going to give any spoilers on that, but you're on to something.  
**

**To teanotes: I always imaged that the Stolls knew how to cook too. That just fit to me. And I have a feeling that Harry may know how to cook to, not majorly well, but just simple things. As for the talking between Luna and the Stolls, and Hermione and Annabeth, I figured they deserved to show off their own pasts since they are near non-existent. As for the prophecies, don't worry, there aren't going to be too much. I don't plan on piling them all together. That would give me a headache. As for Vena and Apollo, well, I do too.  
**

**To lunalovegood0628: You didn't know? Well, you do now. Now, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, went through his burning day. He was old and dying, so he burst into flames and was reborn from his ashes. Harry thought he'd get in trouble when it happened. The poor kid.  
**

**To lmao234: I was mostly that clever. I was still having trouble pronouncing all my words when I was two. Everyone in my country had their creole accent, and I was developing an American one. That made things difficult.  
**

**Okay, that's all. I hope my exams go well so that I can update soon. See you!  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	16. We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from either Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**So, good news! My exams are over! That means I have time to write up another chapter, but I still have to wait for results, so I'm in the balance. INTE Science exam was surprisingly easy. Why was I sweating over it? Now all I have to do is write up labs. I hate labs, especially since an apparatus of hot water broke on my arm that one class. -_-**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

**We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium**

* * *

Vena entered a large white room filled with different roses of many colors: red, white, purple, pink, orange, yellow. Grape vines grew on the white walls and over the golden curtains. The marble floor was cold and off-white. There were several white comfy sofas in the room, surrounding a fireplace that burned merrily with light blue flames exact to that of a gas stove. The windows were open, and from here she had a beautiful view of her backyard that was filled an assortment of flowers and herbs as well as a small lake.

"I always loved this room," Apollo spoke up.

Vena wasn't even startled.

She had already known he would show up, but she couldn't resist saying, "Don't you knock?"

Apollo laughed. "Who are you spying on?" he asked, pointing to the middle of the room.

Sitting in the chamber's center was a large circular fountain made of silver and stone. It was probably fifteen feet wide in diameter and at least two feet deep. Its exterior was carved with images of swans and lakes. In the middle of the fountain was a statue of a younger girl holding a thin staff topped with a flower of unknown genus. A spout of water spewed from the flower into the clear, crystal blue waters of the fountain.

Vena smiled. "Who else would I look upon?"

She sat by the fountain's edge and leaned down to the water. She blew lightly onto the glimmering liquid and it began to ripple out. The water darkened and an image formed. It showed the readers sitting in the guest common room, reading the bits of the last chapter.

The image of George sat up. "_There, I'm done. Who wants to read next?_"

Neville reached out for the book. "_I will._"

"An ingenious creation on your part," Apollo said. "So this is how you know what goes on with them?"

Vena smiled. "Nothing happens in this house that I don't know about. For instance, I know that they are going to read Percy's encounter with Medusa now."

Apollo groaned. "Medusa?" he asked. "Wow, that poor boy has it bad."

"Well, there is nothing that can be done about it," she said. "Plus, Medusa brought her troubles on herself. We both know what happened."

"Mostly you," Apollo said. "I still don't have all the details."

Vena rolled her eyes and tucked a lock of her auburn-gold hair behind her ears. Apollo studied her before sitting next to her on the fountain.

"Can you tell me the story then?" he asked her.

"Why tell, when you could know?" she asked. "Poseidon never wanted Athens."

"Then why did he nominate himself for Patron-ship?" Apollo asked, confused.

Vena smiled slyly. "He _didn't_," she said. Then she reached out a hand and touched Apollo's forehead. His sight went black as he saw what she had once seen.

* * *

"Neville, read before he starts arguing," Ginny said, looking at Ron. "It's too early in the morning for that."

Neville laughed at turned to the book as Ron glared at his little sister. "**Chapter Eleven: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium**," Neville read. "Wait, what?"

"Gnomes?" Ron asked. "Why would you want gnomes? Do you know how dangerous those things are?"

"And irritating," George added. "I hate it when I get bitten by one."

The Greek stared at them. "You've seen gnomes?" Rachel asked.

"We _have_ gnomes in the garden," Ginny explained. "They are so annoying at times."

"I don't think so," Luna said. "Gnomes are also known as '_Gernumbli gardensi_'. They are very beneficial."

"Say that to my poor finger," George grumbled, rubbing his right hand. A few people laughed.

Luna smiled. "Okay then," she said. She took George's hand, ignoring his splutter and said to his finger, "Gnomes are very beneficial. Their saliva has many unusual and beneficial properties, such as the ability to suddenly increase one's creativity. That's probably why you have a lot of imagination, George."

Poor George gaped at her as his friends roared with laughter from his expression. His mouth open and closed like a fish and Neville took pity on him. He looked at the page and started to read.

"That was brilliant," Conner chuckled as he gave Luna an approving nod.

**In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.**

All eyes turned to Percy.

"Am I wrong?" he asked.

"No, but did you have to point it out?" Thalia asked.

"He's asking for a death sentence," Nico sighed, earning a slap in the head from Percy.

**For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.**

Neville raised an eyebrow but he didn't comment.

"Suddenly I think we have it easy," Ron whispered to Hermione and Harry.

**So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses.**

Thalia gagged. "That smells worse than the Hermes cabin."

"Hey!" Travis and Conner protested.

**Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror.**

"Why does that happen, anyway?" Conner asked. "It was always a little freaky."

"It's how we show that we're afraid," Grover said.

"Isn't whimpering enough?" Travis asked.

Grover glared and him. "_Blah-ah-ah!_ Not when you part animal!"

Travis raised his hand in protest. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!"

**"Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."**

**I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."**

**"All our money was back there," I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."**

Everyone groaned. They'd forgotten about that.

**"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"**

**"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"**

**"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."**

**"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."**

"I love how you slipped that in so nonchalantly," Percy laughed as Annabeth shook her head.

"It's what I do," Grover chuckled.

**"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.**

**Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."**

"No comment!" Grover warned as the Stolls opened their mouths. They smirked at him.

**We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.**

George made a face at that and made a gagging sound that sounded like a bird dying. Ginny giggled.

**After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to me. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."**

**"We're a team, right?"**

**She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."**

Percy turned and pretended to scowl at her. "I'm glad my life meant so much to you."

Annabeth tried no to smile. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said, shaking his head. Annabeth punched him in the arm playfully and he ended up tickling her until she couldn't breathe anymore.

"_Alright, alright!_" she gasped, trying to fight him off. "I'm really, _really_ sorry! I don't want you to die!"

Percy chuckled and pecked her on the lips. "_Much_ better."

Conner gagged. "Will you two cut it out! That's gross!"

Grover smiled. "Wait until you get a girlfriend and see what we tell you," he joked.

"He's going to get a girlfriend?" Travis asked in mock skepticism.

Conner pouted. "Oh, hush it! I have a better shot than you!"

"And seeing that Travis has NO shot, then we know how this works out," Thalia laughed.

The brothers scowled at her while the others tried to keep on straight faces.

**The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair.**

**"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her.**

**"No ... only short field trips. My dad—"**

**"The history professor."**

**"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."**

**If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice.**

**"You're pretty good with that knife," I said.**

**"You think so?"**

**"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."**

"Me too," Ron said.

"You think that's impressive?" Harry asked. "How about riding a dragon?"

Hermione shuddered. "_Never_ make me do that again!" she said shakily.

"Hey, we lived!" Ron pointed out.

Hermione glared. "That's not the point!"

"Oh, I remembered that day!" Neville said, grinning. "You three were the heroes of the evening for that!"

The Greeks looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"I might come up in Harry's books," Ginny said, glaring at Harry. When she had first heard about that, she had nearly had a heart-attack. She knew he was bold, but THAT bold? He should've just tattooed the words "Kill me" on his forehead next to his scar!

"Aw man, that sounds awesome," the Stolls sighed.

**I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled.**

**"You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you ... Something funny back on the bus ..."**

**Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured.**

**"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried.**

Grover shook his head as everyone snickered.

"I've gotten better," he said weakly.

"We know, G-man," Percy smiled.

**"If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"**

**He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.**

"Who's Hilary Duff?" Ginny asked.

"She's a mortal actress and singer," Thalia said before turning to Grover. "You listen to Hilary Duff? It's bad enough you listen to Jesse McCartney!"

Conner laughed. "He listens to _Jesse McCartney_?"

Grover blushed. "Can we move on from my music preferences?"

Neville nodded, but, like everyone else in the room, he heard Grover mutter, "There's nothing wrong with those two."

"Keep telling yourself that," Thalia muttered to herself.

Nico had to cover his mouth so no one would see his grin.

**Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head.**

Percy groaned as everyone chuckled at that.

"So _THAT'S_ what that noise was," Annabeth giggled.

"Leave me alone," Percy said in shame. She kissed him on the cheek and he cheered up by a small fraction.

**Add to the list of superpowers I did not have: infrared vision.**

**After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food.**

"That was not excellent," Grover grumbled. "It's unhealthy and it can kill you."

Percy rolled his eyes and make no comment at him.

**I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill, where we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. This boy needed a double cheeseburger.**

"I know how you feel," Travis said. "After eating healthy for so long, sometimes you just need a break."

Grover tutted.

"Man, you shouldn't talk, you eat furniture and paper!" Conner added.

Everyone laughed at Grover's red face.

**We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.**

**It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.**

**To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.**

Neville fumbled over the pronunciation but after several seconds he gave up. "Wow, dyslexia really does mess everything up," he said sadly.

"We're used to it," Annabeth said, equally upset over it.

"Unfortunately," Thalia added.

It was hard for the Brits not to sympathize the Greek's dilemma. They could only read Greek well, and most of the time, in the mortal world at least, it was a language rarely used.

**"What the heck does that say?" I asked.**

**"I don't know," Annabeth said.**

**She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too.**

"That's always the tough part," Annabeth sighed. Percy put an arm around her shoulder and nodded in agreement.

**Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."**

"Thank god for Grover," Ron said, trying to lighten their mood. It helped a little to see them smile.

**Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.**

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover shuddered at the mention of the statues. They were sorry for those poor people.

**I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.**

**"Hey ..." Grover warned.**

**"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."**

**"Snack bar," I said wistfully.**

**"Snack bar," she agreed.**

**"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."**

**We ignored him.**

He glared at Percy and Annabeth.

"We're sorry," they said in unison.

"It's in the past, right?" Grover said dismissively, though he was still a little miffed that they had ignored him.

**The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.**

**"_Bla-ha-ha!_" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"**

'_Poor Uncle Ferdinand_,' Grover thought. He always knew his uncle might die in his search for Pan, but he couldn't believe he had to die THIS way.

**We stopped at the warehouse door.**

**"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."**

**"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him.**

"That was rude," Luna stated.

Annabeth winced. "I'm so sorry, Grover, I was so hungry that I wasn't thinking straight."

Grover smiled. "It's okay, Annabeth."

**"All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"**

**"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."**

**"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.**

**"Those are vegetables.**

"Um, how are aluminum cans vegetables?" Ginny asked.

Grover blushed. "Okay, maybe not exactly like vegetables..."

Everyone looked at him expectantly. He groaned.

"We just like eating them!" he snapped. "Happy?"

"No, we need to work on your diet," Rachel stated.

Grover grumbled to himself and Neville, after successfully concealing a smile, returned to the book.

**Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."**

**Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman - at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.**

'_Once,_' Percy, Annabeth, and Grover thought together.

**Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"**

**"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say.**

**"We're orphans," I said.**

Harry scowled. "Orphans?"

"Um, yeah," Percy said, not understanding why Harry was being so sour about it. "Why?"

The Brits looked at Harry sadly, knowing exactly what was bothering him.

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing," he said. "Neville continue, please."

Neville nodded glumly. His parents were still alive, but sometimes he felt like he had none. He had a feeling how Harry was feeling now.

**"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"**

**"We got separated from our caravan," I said. "Our circus caravan.**

Travis and Conner looked at Percy incredulously along with everyone else.

"_That_ was what you came up with?" Conner asked skeptically.

"Olympus, have mercy on his soul," Travis stated, shaking his head sadly.

"Oh, _give me a break!_" Percy exclaimed. "I was hungry! _And_ tired! You expected me to come up with something _better?"_

Conner glared. "Percy, a _seven-year-old_ can come up with something better than that."

"You should have let Annabeth make up the story," Nico agreed. "That was horrible."

"I second that," Rachel added.

Percy groaned and covered his face. Neville decided to spare him and started reading again.

**The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"**

"He's like Ron when it comes to food," Ginny giggled, burying her face into Harry's shoulder to stifle the laughter.

Ron glared. "Very funny, Ginny."

Harry rolled his eyes; he was very much aware that Ginny was really close to him. He sighed when he realized he had to talk to her eventually. He just didn't know how.

**"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."**

**We thanked her and went inside.**

"You entered an unknown place with some stranger?" Hermione asked. "That wasn't very smart."

"They were hungry, Hermione, give them a break," Ron defended.

"Yeah, plus they were twelve," Ginny added. "They would be a little more trusting at that age."

Hermione sighed. "It's just too dangerous," she said. "You don't know anything about her. I think we all know that the most unexpected and unlikely people can be the most dangerous."

"I wish we had considered that," Grover muttered to Percy and Annabeth.

**Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?"**

**"Always have a strategy, right?"**

**"Your head is full of kelp."**

Percy nudged Annabeth in the ribs and she slapped his knee.

**The warehouse was filled with more statues — people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. But mostly, I was thinking about food.**

Almost everyone rolled their eyes at that. Perce shook his head in disapproval.

**Go ahead, call me an idiot for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes. Plus, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair — it made everything else go away. I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us.**

"Argh!" half the room groaned.

"Percy!" Nico scolded. "How do you explain it, yet not register it?"

Percy blushed and shrugged.

"Annabeth," Thalia said, "why didn't you do anything?"

Annabeth turned pink. "I hadn't noticed."

Grover rolled his eyes. "Well, I did, but there was nothing I could do to snap you two out of it. I knew you wouldn't listen to me anyways."

Everyone groaned this time.

**All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.**

**"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.**

**"Awesome," I said.**

**"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."**

**Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."**

**"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.**

**Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done some thing wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must've been my imagination.**

"It wasn't," Annabeth said softly. "I saw it too."

**"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."**

"How does she know your name?" Perce asked. "Neither Percy nor Grover mentioned it before."

"That's true," Hermione said, nodding. "You all didn't introduce yourselves."

Nico groaned. "She's some kid of monster, isn't she?" he asked resignedly.

"You bet," Grover said.

"Just your luck..." Thalia moaned.

**Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves.**

Rachel sighed. "How do you survive?"

Percy glared at her.

**Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.**

**I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe.**

"Do you think you'd remember if you started to choke?" Hermione asked disapprovingly.

"She's like Mum," George muttered to Perce.

**Annabeth slurped her shake.**

**Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat.**

**"What's that hissing noise?" he asked.**

**I listened, but didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head.**

**"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."**

**"I take vitamins. For my ears."**

**"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."**

**Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied after the burger, and a little sleepy, and I figured the least I could do was try to make small talk with our hostess.**

'_She was probably thinking about how much Percy looked like Poseidon_,' Rachel heard Apollo's voice say in her head.

'_She was_,' Vena's voice sounded out. '_That woman NEEDS to move on!_'

'_You'd think she'd hate him for what happened_,' Apollo mused.

'_Nah, she hates Athena for that. Besides, it was her own fault she was there_,' Vena told him.

'_I suppose you're right. It was her idea, after all_,' Apollo allowed.

'_Um, guys, I can hear you_,' Rachel thought. '_And I take it the monster has something to do with Athena and Poseidon?_'

There was a brief silence. '_Um, yeah... Oh. Sorry about that,_' Vena said, switching off.

"Rachel?" Nico's voice echoed in. "Are you in there?"

"Nico!" Thalia chided. "Of course she's in there!"

"Well, could you tell her to stop staring at me, it's disturbing," Ron said anxiously.

Rachel shook her head. "Um, what?"

"And she's alive!" Conner announced dramatically.

Rachel glared. "Thanks, Conner."

"What just happened, you spaced out for a second," Travis said. "Are you feeling okay?"

Rachel sighed. "I'm fine. I'm sorry too. I was just thinking about something."

"And that would be...?" Ginny offered.

"That I think I know who the monster is," Rachel said; the hint with Athena and Poseidon made it obvious. Rachel had read about the gorgons months ago when trying to learn as much of the Greek myths as possible. Then she turned to look at Percy. "If it is who I think it is, you're lucky to be here."

Percy smiled sheepishly, realizing that she knew it was Medusa.

"Who is it?" Neville asked.

"Keep reading," Annabeth instructed. He looked a little put-off but he complied.

**"So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested.**

**"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."**

**"A lot of business on this road?"**

**"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."**

"You mean kill every customer you get," Annabeth grumbled.

Hermione paled at those words. More danger.

**My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues.**

**But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified.**

'_It's Medusa_,' Rachel confirmed to herself.

**"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."**

**"You make these statues yourself?" I asked.**

**"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.**

**Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"**

**"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young.**

"She wasn't jealous," Annabeth said crossly.

"Who was she?" Ron asked.

Annabeth refused to answer, irritating him. Neville sighed and continued reading. It was probably in the book.

**I had a ... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident.**

"_She wasn't determined, she was insulted_," Annabeth muttered in Greek. "_And it wasn't an accident, it was a curse for such utterly disgusting disrespect_."

"I'm not even going to ask for a translation," George groaned.

**My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."**

**I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?**

**"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."**

**She sounded tense. I wasn't sure why. Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything.**

"I would say something," Ginny muttered. "But if she's a monster, I guess she wouldn't as long as she gets what she wants."

**"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."**

**She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.**

**"We really should go."**

**"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"**

**I didn't want to leave. I felt full and content. Aunty Em was so nice. I wanted to stay with her a while.**

"She's enchanting you," Conner said, vexed.

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"He isn't thinking straight," Conner said. "It's like something is controlling him. And it's not his weariness."

"You have experience in that field?" Nico asked curiously.

"Yeah," Conner said, not specifying how he knew.

The others looked like they wanted to ask, but when they saw Travis shaking his head, they decided not to.

**"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"**

**"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.**

**"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."**

"Not everyone," Harry said. "Umbridge hates children."

"Who's Umbridge?" Travis asked.

"Someone we hate," Ginny grumbled. "Stupid pink wench..."

George laughed while Perce sighed. "Neville, please continue."

**Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"**

**"Sure we can," I said. I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed us for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"**

Annabeth glared at Percy.

"I know! I know."

**"Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."**

**I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues. Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."**

**"Not much light for a photo," I remarked.**

**"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"**

**"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.**

**Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"**

**Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."**

Grover's expression saddened. Nico noticed his grimace and started to think it over. Uncle; statue; monster... he nearly gasped. It had to be Medusa! His father bought statues from her for Persephone's garden! Grover sensed Nico's horror and gave him a small nod, confirming this thoughts.

**"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear."**

**She still had no camera in her hands.**

**"Percy—" Annabeth said.**

**Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth, but I was fighting the sleepy feeling, the comfortable lull that came from the food and the old lady's voice.**

"Charmspeak," Conner muttered. "She's using magic on you."

"What's charmspeak?" Luna asked.

"It's the ability to control others with words," Travis said grimly. "Like hypnotism."

It took ten seconds for everyone to digest that bit of information.

"Sounds like the Imperius Curse," Ron muttered to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

"How do you know about that?" Hermione asked.

"We know a daughter of Aphrodite who is a charmspeaker," Conner hissed, his expression turning sour. "The gift is usually bestowed to them. I've seen her use the power on Travis."

"It's a long story, and we don't want to talk about it," Travis said firmly, glaring at the floor.

Rachel and Annabeth nodded since they understood what the Stolls meant. Everyone else looked a little confused, but they didn't bother to question the brothers when they knew they wouldn't answer.

**"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."**

**"Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted.**

**"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"**

**"That _is_ Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.**

"What?" exclaimed those who didn't know who the monster was.

"How is that — oh!" Thalia covered her mouth with her hand; she figured out it was Medusa. "Oh, Grover, I'm so sorry!"

"Who is it?" Ron asked.

"Neville, read the book, they won't answer," Ginny said quickly, taking in the horrified expressions on their faces.

**"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me both off the bench.**

**I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet.**

**I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in another. But I was too dazed to move. Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails.**

**I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"**

**More rasping — the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from ... from about where Aunty Em's head would be.**

"Medusa?" Conner and Travis squeaked, their eyes wide with fear. "Of all monsters, why _her_?"

"Who's Medusa?" Ginny asked. "What can she do?"

"She can turn people to stone with a single look," Percy said sadly. "I'm sorry about your uncle, Grover."

"I am too," Grover sighed.

The Brits looked horrified. Neville quickly started reading again.

**"Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "_Maia!_" to kick-start his flying sneakers.**

**I couldn't move. I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in.**

**"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."**

**I fought the urge to obey. Instead I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens - a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents.**

**Aunty Em.**

**Aunty _"M."_**

"Why do you keep repeating that?" Ron asked.

"Oh, no Ron," Neville said. "He said 'Aunty Em', with E — M, and then the next is M in quotation marks."

"Oh," Ron said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

**How could I have been so stupid?**

**_Think_, I told myself. _How did Medusa die in the myth?_**

**But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face.**

"Could you try thinking positively?" Hermione pleaded. "I'm nearing nineteen with a heart-failure."

Percy blushed.

**"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."**

**"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, some where in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"**

**"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."**

**"No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move.**

**"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy?**

"How the hell do the monsters always know what's going on in our lives?" Nico grumbled. "What, are they stalking us all the time?"

"They have nothing better to do," Percy stated.

**What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."**

**"Percy!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, "Duck!"**

**I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.**

**"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"**

**That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me.**

That broke the tension in the room with a few grins. Grover pouted at Percy.

"That hurt, man," he said.

"Sorry," Percy chuckled.

**I dove to one side.**

**_Thwack!_**

**At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage.**

**"You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"**

**"_That_ was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.**

"Go Grover!" the Stolls cheered. The satyr smiled at them.

**I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass.**

**_Ker-whack!_**

**_"Arrgh!"_ Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spit ting.**

**Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!"**

**I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome.**

The Stolls snickered.

**"Jeez! Don't do that!"**

**Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. "You have to cut her head off."**

**"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."**

**"Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You — you've got a chance."**

**"What? I can't—"**

**"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"**

**She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster.**

Everyone's expression became distressed at the mention of the poor mortals who fell into Medusa's trap.

**Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—"**

"Do you mind speaking English?" Ron asked, trying to work out what Annabeth meant. Neville chuckled softly since that was what Percy said in the book.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's simple, Ron—"

"To you," Ron grumbled.

Hermione ignored him. "Look, what she's trying to say is that Percy will have to look at the monster, but indirectly. Direct sight would mean death; indirect is the exact opposite. The ball will probably allow him to do that, but the sight through the ball will be imprecise."

"Then why didn't she just say that?" Ron asked.

"She did!" Hermione retorted.

"Guys, now is not the time," Harry interrupted.

The two looked like they wanted to argue, but at Harry's pointed look, they ceased.

**"Would you speak English?"**

**"I am!" She tossed me the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."**

"We are NOT going over this again!" Hermione declared as Ron opened his mouth.

**"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"**

**_"Roooaaarrr!"_**

**"Maybe not," Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.**

Travis chuckled. For some reason he found it amusing.

**"Hurry," Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."**

**I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand. I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair. I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her.**

**Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!"**

**Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!"**

**I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself. But she let me approach — twenty feet, ten feet.**

**I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really that ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse.**

**"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."**

"You're no old woman," Percy snapped.

**I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass — the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak.**

**From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"**

**Medusa cackled. "Too late."**

**She lunged at me with her talons.**

**I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening _shlock!,_ then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern — the sound of a monster disintegrating.**

**Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces.**

"Ew!" the girls said together.

"Ugh!" the guys groaned.

**"Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck."**

"We've already clarified that it's disgusting, Grover," Conner joked.

Grover rolled his eyes.

**Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move."**

**Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.**

Everyone looked tempted to made a disgusted sound again.

**"Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling.**

**"Yeah," I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger. "Why didn't ... why didn't the head evaporate?"**

**"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."**

**Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.**

**"The Red Baron," I said. "Good job, man."**

**He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."**

"Really not fun," Grover said, rubbing that spot on his forehead where the welt used to be.

**He snatched his shoes out of the air. I recapped my sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the warehouse.**

**We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak.**

**Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"**

"It wasn't just Athena, Percy," Thalia said. "Medusa was a consort of Poseidon's."

"_WHAT?_" Ron, Harry, Ginny, Neville and George exclaimed. Luna's eyes were wide while Hermione and Perce's were thoughtful.

"I may have read about that..." they muttered to themselves.

"Wait, wait, she explains it," Neville said, indicating to the book.

**Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."**

Percy turned both red and green.

"Wow, tough luck," Conner said, grimacing. "Your dad's million-year-old ex-girlfriend is into you."

Ron gagged. "Gross!"

"That's wrong on so many levels," Nico said, shaking his head.

"You know, even though that was the real version, there are a few others," Rachel said. She'd managed to block a a few comments in her head from Vena and Apollo during the reading, but one managed to stick out. "Well, mainly one other..."

"And what's that?" Harry asked.

"It's one you wouldn't be comfortable with," Annabeth. "The official recording in the Athena cabin states that Medusa and Poseidon were an item and had an inappropriate moment in my mother's temple. In rage, Mom turned Medusa into that monster. Medusa had two other sisters, Euryale and Stheno. Myth says they were already monsters. They were all known as the Gorgons."

"Others say that they were turned with Medusa," Rachel added. "For helping her get into the temple in the first place."

"What's the other version?" George asked.

"As I said, it isn't one that you guys, and even Percy, would be comfortable with," Annabeth stated.

"Hey, we're all adults here," Ron said. "Well, most of us." He looked at a few individuals.

Ginny, Luna, Thalia, Nico, Travis and Conner looked taken aback at being in his sight-range.

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked.

"Try me," Ron challenged.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Fine. One myth states that Medusa was a maiden servant to Athena and was raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon."

The room was silent.

* * *

Vena covered her mouth to hide her laughter at Apollo's expression. He was staring at the readers through the watery image in shock.

"Well," he said hesitantly. "That was — _bold_."

"That _didn't_ happen, and we _know_ it!" Vena defended, still giggling.

"I know, I know," Apollo said, waving his hands in the air. "But she didn't have to put it _that_ way!"

Vena smiled. "I know. Percy's mind is completely blank. Not a single thought."

Apollo laughed. "Did he know this version?"

Vena shook her head. "Nope."

Rachel's mental voice rang out of the water to them, and them alone. '_Well, that makes this twice as awkward!_'

The two immortal fell into laughter once more.

* * *

Ron gaped at Annabeth in horror. So did everyone else who didn't know that myth — so the exceptions were Rachel, Grover, Nico, and Thalia. Rachel was too busy trying to ignore Apollo and Vena's laughter to pay attention to the others.

"I ... did not see that coming," Percy said in a high, uncomfortable voice.

"R-R—" Ron choked out. "Okay, first the Minotaur, and now this! Is there anything — anything that's not — urgh!"

"Athena never stated that this was the official story," Annabeth reminded him. "It was a version that the mortals believed in."

"Oh," Percy said sounding slightly relieved. "So Dad didn't — Medusa?"

"No," Annabeth stated, sounding sympathetic. "But there was Caenis." Percy blanched.

"Oh, right!" Nico nodded. "She was a guy in her lifetime. Went by Caeneus, though upon death he — or she — turned back into a woman. I met her in the Underworld. Not so bad."

Most of them were gaping at Nico now. Then Ron turned to Neville.

"READ THE BOOK!" Ron nearly screamed. "_Before they say more!_"

Neville scrambled together his thoughts and started reading from the book before the demigods said anything else to scar them. Perce was scrambling up his own thoughts, trying to figure out how to talk to Annabeth about that sort of bluntness.

* * *

"Those poor kids," Vena said, shaking her head. Curls of auburn-gold bounced around at the moment. Apollo reached out a hand to push the locks away from her face, but she caught him and gave him a stern look.

Apollo rolled his eyes. "They'll get over it." Vena had showed him the actually story and he was now aware of a few secrets that most gods didn't know.

Vena glared now. "They're used to dealing with death, not — this."

"Okay," Apollo said, resigned. "Let's just hope they stick with the Medusa-was-Poseidon's-girlfriend-thing and move on."

Vena groaned and turned back to the image. "How I am attracted to you, I'm still trying to figure out..."

Apollo pouted at her.

* * *

Neville cleared his throat and looked for the last line he was on. "Okay, here we go."

**My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."**

**Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"**

**"Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."**

**"You're insufferable."**

**"You're—"**

**"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines.**

Conner and Travis laughed, trying to pull the others out of their shocked faze.

It didn't work.

**What are we going to do with the head?"**

**I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!**

**I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest, for getting us blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp. At this rate, we'd never make it to L.A. alive, much less before the summer solstice.**

**What had Medusa said?**

**Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue.**

**I got up. "I'll be back."**

**"Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you—"**

**I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden.**

Everyone turned to look at Nico.

"It's true, I've seen them," he said. "I even have one in my room."

"Why?" George asked, disgusted.

"Dad put it there," Nico said, looking glum. "It's a long story."

**According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.**

**In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express,**

Everyone looked at the Stolls now.

"Why are you guys staring at us?" Conner asked.

"We don't get into Dad's business," Travis added.

Everyone looked back at the book just as the two said, "That's Bette's job."

"Oh brother," Thalia groaned.

**each with a little leather bag attached for coins. I rummaged around the rest of the office until I found the right-size box.**

**I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:**

**The Gods**

**Mount Olympus**

**600th Floor,**

**Empire State Building**

**New York, NY**

**With best wishes,**

**PERCY JACKSON**

"_PERCY!_" the demigods yelped.

"I _knew_ it! He's _insane_!" Conner cried out, staring at the son of Poseidon like he dropped from Neptune.

"Why the _Hades_ would you send that to them?" Nico exclaimed.

"Oh, when he uses his own father's name, you know he's mad," Travis said nervously, looking at Nico.

"Look, I was upset at the lot of them," Percy confessed.

"So you decided to _threaten_ them?" Thalia asked skeptically.

Percy glared. "I didn't _threaten_ them!"

"You sent them a head that can kill them," Perce pointed out. "Technically, if someone did that to me, I'd feel threatened."

Percy sighed. "Alright, I'll admit that was a dumb move."

"You _think_!" Harry exclaimed. "I wouldn't do something like that."

"No, you wouldn't," Hermione said. "But tell me if these rumors are true: did you ever taunt someone who was trying to kill you like you didn't care?"

Harry blushed. He remembered when Sirius died and how he taunted Bellatrix. "Um, maybe once." Hermione and Ron gave him pointed looks. "Fine, _a lot!_"

Everyone sniggered at him. Grover sensed the tension from earlier begin to wear down.

"What happened can't be changed," Luna said in a dreamy voice.

"No it can't, but that doesn't mean it has to be ignored," Ginny mused.

Percy glared and she grinned at him. Harry felt a small twinge of jealously in his chest.

**"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."**

**I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!**

**"I _am_ impertinent," I said.**

**I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize.**

"Oh, I wanted to do more than criticize you," she stated, "but there were other things, more important issues, that had to be taken care of."

**She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."**

"And that's it," Neville said.

Perce opened his mouth to say something, but then Ron took the words out of his mouth.

"Let's get something straight, here," Ron said threateningly. "Next time, warn a guy about ANYTHING that is—is—"

"PG-13?" Conner suggested.

"What does that mean?" Luna asked.

"Material may be inappropriate for children under 13," Travis said. "Or we can go with R."

"And that is?" George asked.

"People Under 16 Not Admitted Unless Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian," Conner grinned.

Ron gaped. "What—?"

"That's for the movies, you guys!" Thalia exclaimed. "And why are you quoting?"

"It's fun," they said.

"It's irritating," Nico objected.

Perce sighed. "Just try not to say anything that inappropriate. There may be people here who can't handle it."

Annabeth rolled her eye. "Okay, I'll censor the details next time if the story is — inappropriately — explicit."

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully.

"So who is next?" Neville asked, holding up the book.

"I'll read," Luna said, taking the book from him. She looked at the chapter title and said, "It could have been worse."

* * *

Apollo was lying on his back, laughing really hard. Vena was sitting at the fountain, shaking her head and refusing to smile. It made her jaw look odd.

"You should have seen Zeus's face when that thing turned up!" he roared. "Priceless!"

"Yes, and I recall Aphrodite fainting and nearly having a heart-failure. It took an hour for Anteros and Hedone to wake her up," Vena added. Then she kicked his foot. "Oh, stop with that! The joke's over!"

"Just thinking of it makes me laugh!" Apollo stated, grinning.

"Then stop thinking about it and get up!"

Apollo sighed. "It was all Poseidon could do to stop Zeus from sending a lightning bolt at the kid," he said, sitting up. "He didn't need his Master Bolt to do that. Just for _that _little stunt, he sent Echidna and the Chimera after Percy. Poseidon almost strangled him."

"His pride was wounded," Vena said, shrugging. "You know how your father is, Pol."

"Yeah, I do," Apollo said, nodding.

Apollo hiccuped as he got back up to his feet. He wiped his tear-filled eyes and peered down into the fountain just as Luna said, "**We Get Advice from a Poodle**."

"And I thought the titles could get no stranger," he commented.

"They're just titles," Vena pointed out.

"Couldn't they be — I don't know, normal?" he asked.

"Since when is any of this normal?" Vena asked. "I think we've established that nothing to do with the gods is normal. Think back to that earlier conversation."

Apollo gave it a thought and then started snickering.

Vena rolled her eyes and one side of her mouth went up in a tiny smile that was so pretty that the god's immortal heart almost forgot to do its job.

Apollo mentally sighed. How many more centuries would it be before he finally won her heart?

'_It seems you were sent straight to me from above / Your smile is bright enough to bring the day / Your eyes so blue, I just have to say / There couldn't be anything more perfect in one place / Your beauty is much deeper than just your face / They say love takes time but yet ... / It feels as if we've already met / It feels like we were meant to be / Together forever ... You and Me_,' he thought as silently as he could.

"You stole that from Moreno," Vena said bluntly, not looking at him. "I remember when he composed that. And my eyes are not blue."

Apollo grinned. "It's the principle that counts."

She rolled her eyes. "Riiiiight..."

Apollo sighed. "It was a worth a shot."

"Keep telling yourself that."

* * *

**Finally, that's the chapter of the week! It was smaller than the last one.**

**So sorry that I've been away. Last week was something of torture. I got my humiliation in IT. I wouldn't even tell you the grade. My friend got lower. I wondered how that was possible. Isn't half low enough. :( Alright, enough of that before I start crying. Time for something cheerful! It's my last week of school and that means I can work of the chapters now. Well, I'd have other stuff to do to, but I can finish book one at least. I'm hoping that I could have at least two chapters a week. I'm hoping.**

**To Sakra: The work wasn't that bad, thank gods. And I loved to write the bit with Nico and the Furies. If it were me, I wouldn't like them much either.**

**To lunalovegood0628: I will get to the Harry-Ginny part at some point in the story, but not now. I think I will let Ginny talk to Hermione at the next break, but I wasn't really focusing on that. Thank you for reminding that it was part of the story. And for the first Weasley? I remember it was Molly Weasley who first spoke to him and told him how to get on the train. After that I know it was George, then Fred, then Ron, then I assume is Percy, then so on. I've read the books so many times that I almost remember who came after who.**

**To JGS39: Well, I thought it would be clever to let the guy know that language. After all, he is brainy. And as for Ginny, well, we never knew much about what other subjects she studied other than the basics. Why not Runes? And Thalia will only think of Jason whenever something reminds her of him or if she just chooses to.**

**To teanotes: It was definitely Vena's voice. I took that from the time in HoO where Hera spoke through Rachel. I figured that gods and goddesses, or Vena, may have the ability to speak through her since she is the Oracle. As for what Ginny said, I had gotten it from Shakespeare, and when I researched it, I regretted it, but it was too late to change it all. As for Neville, I gave him the book for a reason. It's purpose is mainly for the next book, not this one, but the next one would be read in a matter of days to them, so I'll explain more about that when I'm doing SOM.**

**To Sheeptopus: Well, I figured that Percy would be up to the challenge. After all, he excelled in his studies. With enough hard work, he could manage it. He is Pompous Percy after all. [I can't help but call him that, even though I don't want him like that in my story. He'd be like Hera :O]**

**To Yua-hime: Well, thank you for enjoying the story so far. I know what it's like to read the alternating stories. Sometimes it give me a headache when I get confused like that. And besides Annabeth and Hermione, I know it is Percy and Harry who have that curiosity to know what's going on, more in Harry than Percy though. As for the ending with the age difference, well, I wouldn't spoil anything, but I always found the age difference a little amusing, but it's for a good reason.**

**To Winged Demiwizard: Really? When I researched his name, it was only Percy Ignatius Weasley. Even in the book it was like that. I know that Percival was Albus Dumbledore's father's name, and one of Albus's middle names, but it never said Percival was Percy's name. However, I understand that Percy is a short form of the name Percival and Perseus (as we all know), but it was never officially stated that that was his name. Etymology, perhaps, but not officially.**

**So that's all for now. See you later :D**

**Oh! Happy 4th of July! I almost forgot!  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	17. We Get Advice from a Poodle

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all from Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

**Note ahead, this chapter is short. I always found it slightly boring, but I tried my best. I listened to Katy Perry's "Wide Awake" and Lady Gaga's "Dance in the Dark" during it. That is my new favorite songs by them.**

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**We Get Advice from a Poodle**

* * *

"So who is next?" Neville asked, holding up the book.

"I'll read," Luna said, taking the book from him. She looked at the chapter title and said, "It could have been worse."

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"**Chapter Twelve: We Get Advice from a Poodle**," Luna read.

"I beg your pardon?" Thalia said, staring at Percy, Annabeth and Grover. "You do what now?"

"I sense that Grover is responsible," Conner said in a mock/mystical voice.

Grover glared. "And why would you suggest that?"

"Who else in your group can talk to a poodle?" Travis asked innocently.

Percy and Annabeth both suppressed smiles at the look on Grover's face.

He sighed. "Okay, it was me," he said.

Nico chuckled. "At least the title slightly makes more sense," he said.

"I'd like to know how that poodle makes advice," Ron chortled loudly. Harry actually had to cover his ears because of the volume. Hermione rolled her eyes and put her hand over his mouth. He stared at her incredulously.

"Much better," she said, noting that he hadn't said anything. "Luna, if you will."

"Of course," Luna said, smiling. Ron looked reproachful at all the grins he received.

**We were pretty miserable that night.**

"I would think you were crazy if you _weren't_ miserable," Rachel pointed out. "After all you've been through, miserable almost seems like an understatement."

"Thanks Rachel, that really raises our spirits," Percy said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Rachel replied, equally as sarcastic.

**We camped out in the woods,**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione momentarily remembered their camping days before focusing on the story.

**a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.**

Grover and Rachel wrinkled their noses in distaste.

**We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else.**

Hermione and Perce nodded in approval.

**We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch.**

**Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky.**

**"Go ahead and sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble."**

**He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Percy."**

**"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?"**

**"No. This makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."**

"That sounds horrible," Ginny said softly. "At Hogwarts we always have a clear view of the sky at night."

"Not to mention we have to study the stars in Astronomy," Ron added, "so of course we have to have clear skies."

Neville grinned. "I was horrible at Astronomy," he said.

"So was I," Ron laughed.

"And somehow you managed an _A_," Hermione said, shaking her head.

**"Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist."**

**He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast ... ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human.**

"You shouldn't shut us down like that," Thalia chided Grover. "Yes, we're humans, but not all of us are like that. I am an environmentalist, too. You wouldn't see me littering on the ground like that."

"Me too," Rachel added. "I'm against stuff like that. I hold rallies."

"I don't approve either," Hermione said. "You should stick to your points. You can change people's opinions, especially the humans."

Grover smiled at them. "You think so?"

"If it's what you believe, you let that belief be known," Hermione said confidently. "Don't be scared to say it. You can always make people listen." She knew that for a fact because S.P.E.W was finally getting noticed.

"It's easy," Thalia added, agreeing with Hermione. "Step one, stop chickening out."

Grover tried to glare at her but he ended up laughing because the way she said it was so funny. It spread into the others and everyone in the room was laughing with him.

"Thanks, girls, I needed that," he said, grinning.

"No problem," Hermione, Rachel and Thalia said at once.

**At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."**

**"Pam? Like the cooking spray?"**

Nico started laughing. "Why would Grover look for that? He's a _horrible_ cook! And he can't prepare the dishes right! If other people hadn't been working with him yesterday, then we would've gotten sick too!"

Grover glared. "Hey, that was one time!" he said reproachfully.

"Yeah right," Nico said, grinning. "I hear Samson was in the infirmary for a week from eating your food."

Grover blushed.

"What are you talking about?" George asked.

"Grover and I went to the same military school," Nico said. "He was the satyr who found me. He was in the cooking class they had for a class competition because Mrs. Gottschalk and Mrs. DeBarge got into a rivalry. I don't see how the whole cooking deal was necessary. I mean, a march off would have made more sense, but back to the story. Grover had to make potato pie, and this kid from my class ate all of it. He was sick for a week."

"There is still no proof that it was my pie!" Grover said indignantly. "For all we know, he ate something else."

Nico tutted. "Keep telling yourself that," he said, grinning.

**"Pan!" he cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searcher's license for?"**

"Who's Pan and what is he the god of?" Ron asked.

"He's the god of the Wild," Grover said, looking a little sad. " I explain it to Percy, so you can just listen for it."

**A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rain water, things that might've once been in these woods.**

"You felt that too?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, I did," Percy said with a small smile.

**Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.**

**"Tell me about the search," I said.**

**Grover looked at me cautiously, as if he were afraid I was just making fun.**

**"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he told me. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, '_Tell them that the great god Pan has died!_' When humans heard the news, they believed it.**

"Can gods die?" Luna asked, looking up from the book.

The demigods grimaced. "The term is _fade_," Nico said sadly. "Gods can fade when it's their time to pass on."

"How is that possible?" Hermione asked. "Aren't they supposed to be immortal?"

Nico sighed. "In some cases, no," he said. "There are a few immortals who have faded in the passed. They fade when they no longer stand for anything. If humanity was destroyed, if everything that we've built were to be annihilated, then the gods would have no anchor to this world anymore. Without an anchor, they would fade."

It sounded horrible. Everyone sat there in silence, pondering over his words. Percy glanced at Grover whose lower lip was trembling. He remembered how hard it had hit him when Pan had faded. He sent Luna a pleading glance and she nodded in understanding before reading again.

**They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."**

"Wow," Ron said with wide eyes. "That real devotion for this guy."

"I can admire that," Conner said.

"How?" Everyone asked, looking at him strangely. He didn't seem like the person to care about Pan.

"Pan is a son of Hermes," Travis said. "Even the Hermes cabin can care about him, you know. Pan was Hermes' first born son ever. His favorite to add to it."

"I didn't know that," Percy said sheepishly.

"He's got a lot to learn," Thalia laughed, earning a glare from the son of the sea god.

**"And you want to be a searcher."**

**"It's my life's dream," he said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand ... the statue you saw back there—"**

Everyone winced sadly at the mention of the statue of Uncle Ferdinand.

**"Oh, right, sorry."**

**Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive."**

"Can you return dead?" Conner asked. Everyone stared at him like he'd gone nuts. "What?"

"Why would you ask such a question?" Ginny asked slowly.

"No one returns," Travis informed him. "You know that."

Conner blushed. "Hey, look, it just came out, okay?" he said defensively. "Blame the ADHD."

Everyone looked a little wary.

"Okay..." Rachel said.

**"Hang on — _the first_?"**

**Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again."**

**"Not once in two thousand years?"**

**"No."**

**"And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"**

**"None."**

"Ouch," a few people muttered.

**"But you still want to go," I said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"**

**"I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened."**

**I stared at the orange haze of the sky and tried to understand how Grover could pursue a dream that seemed so hopeless.**

"It wasn't hopeless, Percy!"

"I know, I'm sorry, G-man."

**Then again, was I any better?**

**"How are we going to get into the Underworld?" I asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"**

**"I don't know," he admitted. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling me—"**

**"Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out."**

"You don't have to be so bitter about it," Annabeth said reproachfully.

"I wasn't very happy with you back then," Percy said apologetically. "I wanted to be your friend, but you were making it a tad difficult."

"It's okay," Annabeth said, shaking her head.

'_I'm going to have to talk to her later_,' Percy thought in a resigned mental voice.

**"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me..." His voice faltered.**

**"What do you mean?" I asked. "Forgave you for what?"**

**Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes.**

**"Wait a minute," I said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't ... I mean, your first assignment that went wrong—"**

Everyone couldn't help but glance at Thalia. She sighed.

"Um, I'm not blind," she said bluntly. They all hastily looked back at the book.

Then Neville spoke up. "But she had something to do with that time, right?" he asked. "I don't remember you saying anything about her being around before when that all happened."

Annabeth sighed. "Yes, I was involved back then and no, I'm not explaining now," she said firmly.

**"I can't talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if I pressed him. "But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Some thing isn't what it seems."**

**"Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunder bolt that Hades took."**

"Besides that!" Annabeth laughed.

'_He didn't take the bolt, gods damn it!_' Nico thought stubbornly.

**"That's not what I mean," Grover said. "The Fur — The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy ... why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been."**

"'Weren't as aggressive as they could've been'?" Ginny asked skeptically. "You're kidding, right?"

Grover shook his head. "Nope."

"Mental," Ron sighed softly.

**"They seemed plenty aggressive to me."**

"Thank you!"

"Ginny!"

"_It's true_, Hermione!"

**Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: '_Where is it? Where?_'"**

**"Asking about me," I said.**

**"Maybe ... but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said '_Where is it?_' They seemed to be asking about an object."**

"That's what I was thinking!" Hermione said eagerly.

**"That doesn't make sense."**

**"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt..." He looked at me like he was hoping for answers, but I didn't have any.**

**I thought about what Medusa had said: I was being used by the gods.**

"Don't listen to her!" Nico said. "She just wanted to turn you into a statue and stare at you all day."

Percy turned green. "Nico di Angelo, if you ever say that again, you will be a permanent resident in your father's realm," he said calmly — or as calmly as he could in his disgust.

Nico grinned. "Sorry."

**What lay ahead of me was worse than petrification. "I haven't been straight with you," I told Grover. "I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."**

**Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. "I know that, Percy. But are you sure that's the only reason?"**

**"I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him."**

"That's not true and you know it!" Thalia said gently. "He loves you very much. More than my father loves me." She sounded a little jealous.

"Hey, your dad loves you, Thalia," Nico said. Then he added, "In his own way."

"Thanks, di Angelo," Thalia laughed. "Same with you."

Nico glared. "Not funny."

"Totally funny."

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Not now, you guys!"

"But Annabeth—"

"_Zip it!_"

Nico and Thalia looked comically disgruntled. It was hard not to smile at them in amusement.

**Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not as brave as you. But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done."**

"Really, because it still seems like a threatening gesture," Perce pointed out.

A few people snorted. Then George pipped up, "Okay, how about he's trying to impress Papa Dearest and insult Uncle Lightning."

Thalia and Percy didn't know whether to glare or laugh at him for giving their fathers those nicknames.

Perce managed to chuckle. "Alright, let's go with that."

**"Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks."**

**Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever."**

"There was no arguing with you," Grover sighed, shrugging.

**"Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west."**

**Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about that problem. "How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."**

**I wanted to protest, but he started to play Mozart, soft and sweet, and I turned away, my eyes stinging. After a few bars of Piano Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.**

**In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit.**

Percy grimaced at the mention of the pit. Annabeth shuddered lightly and Grover gulped.

**Gray mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead.**

"Spirits of the dead?" Harry asked. "What kind of dream is this?"

"A bad one," Percy said, not specifying.

Nico frowned. The dead belonged to the Underworld. What sort of pit would there be in the Underworld? He continued to think about it as Neville continued reading.

**They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm.**

**Looking down made me dizzy.**

"Why would you look down?" Thalia asked softly, her eyes widening slightly. If she had looked down, she would have fainted — and probably fallen in. She shuddered at the thought.

**The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Yet I had a feeling that some thing was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil.**

"Evil pit?" Nico asked himself hesitantly. Then it hit him. "Oh, _hell_ no."

"What?" Rachel asked.

Nico didn't answer her. Instead he turned to Percy. "Of all places for you to dream of, it had to be _there_?"

"It's not like it was my first choice!" Percy retorted.

"What is it?" Ron and Harry asked, both sounding disgruntled.

No one answered them.

**_The little hero_, an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. _Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do_.**

"Bloody hell?" Ron asked with wide eyes. Ginny pushed Harry against the couch and leaned towards Ron and and clamped her hands over his mouth.

"Hush!" she said. "Luna's trying to read!"

Harry's face was red. He was embarrassed about the way Ginny's body was touching his. He felt like sinking into the couch and disappearing.

"I want to know what's going on!" Ron snapped.

"You will, if you shut up!" Ginny said heatedly, folding her arms. Ron glared and she glared right back.

Hermione took Ron's hand. "Let it go."

"_But—_"

"Let it go!"

"...Fine."

**The voice felt ancient — cold and heavy. It wrapped around me like sheets of lead.**

**_They have misled you, boy_, it said. _Barter with me. I will give you what you want._**

**A shimmering image hovered over the void: my mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at me, pleading: _Go!_**

Percy groaned at the memory of that image. What happened to his mother still gave him nightmares.

**I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work.**

**Cold laughter echoed from the chasm.**

**An invisible force pulled me forward. It would drag me into the pit unless I stood firm.**

**_Help me rise, boy_. The voice became hungrier. _Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!_**

"Shut up!" Thalia snapped.

Luna knew she was talking to whoever she was reading from in the book, but to have that glare near her was a little unnerving.

"Who is that?" Perce asked. "Is it just a dream, or is that actually a real person?"

"It's an evil person," Nico said hesitantly. "It will be explained more towards the end of the book. Now is not a good time to spoil it all. What would be the point of reading it in the first place?"

He made himself a point but that didn't stop the other group from being disgruntled about it.

**The spirits of the dead whispered around me, _No! Wake!_**

**The image of my mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its unseen grip around me.**

**I realized it wasn't interested in pulling me in. It was using me to pull itself out.**

**_Good_, it murmured. _Good._**

**_Wake!_ the dead whispered. _Wake!_**

"At least they're being helpful," Nico added softly.

**Someone was shaking me. My eyes opened, and it was daylight.**

**"Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."**

"I am no zombie!" Percy said in mock reproachfulness.

"Yeah, that's Nico," Thalia teased, nudging the said boy in the ribs.

"Har-Har," Nico said, rolling his eyes.

**I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. "How long was I asleep?"**

**"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar.**

"And you say _I'm_ a horrible cook," Grover said, looking at Nico.

"Fine, Annabeth's worse," Nico said, grinning.

Annabeth huffed, looking miffed at the both of them. "I can cook well enough, thank you."

"To be fair, you really didn't make anything," Percy pointed out. Annabeth sent a heated glare at him, but Percy was far too used to it to cower. "What?"

Annabeth sighed. "I'm going to have to find a better method of intimidation," she said to herself. Hitting was not an option. It wouldn't hurt him because of the curse of Achilles and she'd just end up hurting herself. Percy smiled at her and took her hand into his.

**"And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."**

**My eyes had trouble focusing.**

**Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal.**

**No. It wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle.**

"Ah, so now the poodle comes in," George said.

"Why is it pink?" Travis asked, gagging.

"It's a horrible color," Conner added.

Those who didn't like pink, which was everyone, agreed. None of the demigods liked the color because it was too girly. Grover wasn't fond of it and remained neutral as long as no one put it on him. The same was said for Rachel. The wizards and witches had Dolores Umbridge to thank for it, even though most of them hadn't liked it before anyways.

"Umbridge's poodle," Ginny whispered in Harry's ear. He involuntarily shivered at the sound of her soft voice.

"That's never good," he managed to whisper back. She giggled.

**The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."**

**I blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?"**

**The poodle growled.**

**"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."**

"It's _male_?" Travis shrieked, covering his ears from what he had just heard.

"Oh, that makes this _worse_!" Conner added, covering his eyes in mock shame.

"The _horror_!" George couldn't resist saying, clapping a hand over his own mouth.

No one could resist laughing. The wizards were all looking at George hopefully. He seemed to be doing a whole lot better than he did yesterday. He still looked tired but not as sad as before. He must be a little better if he were making jokes.

**"You can talk to animals?"**

**Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."**

"Whoever owns him is a torturer," Nico groaned. "Gladiola?"

"A pink male dog named Gladiola," Neville summarized. "Either the owner is a little girl, or they thought he was female."

There was a few muffled snickers at Neville's effort.

**I stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious.**

**"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," I said. "Forget it."**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."**

**The poodle growled.**

**I said hello to the poodle.**

"Why do they call it a poodle, anyways?" Nico asked. "When you hear the name, you think of everything girly."

"Maybe a girl named them," George suggested.

"That would explain it," Ron agreed.

"Uh, hello?" Thalia said, glaring at the lot of them. "We can hear you."

"And we take offense," Rachel and Ginny added.

Hermione and Annabeth nodded in agreement. It was hard to tell with Luna.

"Sorry," the guys muttered in embarrassment.

"It was originally called Pudelhund," Luna spoke up suddenly. "They were thought to be of German origins. Pudel cognates from the English word 'puddle' and Hund means 'dog'. It was commonly used as a water retriever in France."

Everyone looked surprised by the information.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

Luna nodded. "Yep. They're not magical. I read it in a muggle book," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.

Conner grinned. "I like pudelhund more than poodle," he said.

"Me too," Luna said, returning to the book.

**Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.**

"He must have really liked you to do that," Harry said with a smile smile. "I know that if I had a family who dyed me pink I would run away and never look back."

"Yet you ran away from your own family when you were thirteen and ended up back there are fourteen?" Hermione asked skeptically.

Harry scowled. "Hey, the Minister made sure that I went back there," he said. "I'd rather live with the Weasleys and you know it."

"Aw, that's sweet," Ginny said, smiling. "Mom would really appreciate you saying that."

Harry smiled at her. Ron raised and eyebrow and then sighed. Honestly, he was in no mood to talk to Harry about his relationship with his little sister. Hermione saw the resignation and made a mental note to talk to him about it. If Ron dropped the case, then Harry and Ginny would be free to do whatever they wanted. She knew it was Ron that held Harry back. That was the power of the loyalty in their friendship.

**"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked.**

**"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."**

"Animals can read?" Conner asked in surprise.

"Oh course they can," Hermione said, smiling to herself. "We know animals that can read."

"I assume you're talking about Crookshanks," Perce asked, amused at her smile.

"Yes," Hermione said. She looked at Ginny. "Thank you Ginny, for taking care of him when I was — away." '_More like hunting horcruxes_,' she thought to herself.

"No problem," Ginny said cheerfully.

"Who's Crookshanks?" Nico asked, bemused.

"Hermione's cat," Ron said.

**"Of course," I said. "Silly me."**

**"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."**

**I thought about my dream — the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, and my mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. All that might be waiting for me in the West.**

**"Not another bus," I said warily.**

**"No," Annabeth agreed.**

**She pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."**

"That was a short chapter," Luna commented as she held up the book. "Who will read next?"

"It's done?" Ginny asked. Luna nodded. "Okay, I will."

She took the book from Luna and opened up to the next chapter. "**Chapter Thirteen: I Plunge to My Death**." She grimaced. "That sounds lovely."

"I've been there," Harry sighed.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "How many dangerous experiences have you had?" she asked.

"A lot," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Don't even get him started," Hermione said, pursing her lips. "He loves to give people heart-attacks."

Harry gave her an exasperated look.

* * *

"Another strange chapter," Apollo said. "And it was shorter than the others."

Vena sighed. Apollo had been making little comments like that throughout the entire reading of the last chapter. It wasn't very annoying, but it was distracting.

"Don't you have a job to do on earth?" she asked him.

"I already took care of it all," Apollo said, giving her a teasing smile. He reached out his hand a took a few of her silky auburn-gold locks into his hands and delicately twirled them around his fingers. "Why, are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No," Vena said innocently. "I'm just wondering what's going to happen to that pretty girl who is waiting for you at the café in _la belle Paris_." She said 'the lovely Paris' with such a seductive French accent that Apollo's thoughts scrambled about his head.

Apollo looked momentarily confused. Then he realized what she was talking about. "Oh, Anastasie!" he exclaimed, rising to his feet. "I'm late!"

"By five minutes," Vena added. "There's nothing a girl hates more than a late date."

Apollo groaned and got to his feet. "I've got to go," he said, hurrying to the door.

"Have fun!" Vena said, not looking at him.

Apollo stopped and his shoulders fell. He knew that tone of voice. It's the one that told him that she didn't approve of what he was doing. He turned around to look at her, but her eyes were fixed on the fountain's waters, watching carefully as the readers went onto the next chapter. Her face was blank and her eyes were focused. He felt guilty for leaving her here alone. She was used to it, but he still felt guilty.

For years he tried to get her to go out on at least a date and she never did. He loved her, and he was sure she love him, but she didn't say it. No, she had to remind him of a date he had with a pretty mortal girl in Paris. Vena wouldn't admit it, but it hurt here whenever he ran off with other girls. Apollo didn't think that he would leave her in the dust like the rest of them, but she never gave him a chance.

"Apollo, will you _please_ leave?" Vena asked coldly. "Your thoughts are _disturbing_ my concentration."

Apollo pursed his lips, bowed his head regretfully and left Star in a quick flash. He hadn't notice the small tear that crept up in Vena's eye. She forced it away and changed her thoughts. She was tired of shedding tears over that god. It was one of the reason why her father didn't like him.

'_Artemis has it right, I suppose_,' she thought to herself. '_Let's see if this chapter cheers me up_.'

She sang softly to herself as she looked into the water:

_There is a sight yet to behold, something beautiful and free,_

_Open thy eyes, that shining blue, and see the future's decree._

_A celestial dance across time leads hearts to intertwine against the wings of fate and hope._

_See rise to the life ahead as something pure and renewed._

_Feel lost wisdom within the waves, see loyal truth within the silver kisses._

_Only then will I return your golden heart._

_Rise is the sun to the sky above, lest the moon should play further its stay,_

_My heart is wounded — my love let lie; yet both lovers shall cry,_

_Once virtue of maid thrice suffice to come, my heart will seal your love._

_I hold you dear, my brightest dove! Oh, can you see it?_

_Oh dear, my love! How precious you are! As sunlight, you warm my soul!_

_I marry you, my Apollo, when thee no longer wounds my heart.  
_

* * *

**Okay, Vena's melody sounds similar to Dana Glover's "It Is You I Have Loved". You know, the one from Shrek, but not completely. Just listen to that and you can get a gist of it.  
**

**I've noticed that this chapter is really short. I tried to put a lot of dialogue in it, but I can't help but admit that it's a small chapter. And I've had to get rid of Apollo for a while. It seems like he's staying there too much. I'm worried that he would neglect his godly duties. And his dates. Anyway, I've started on the next chapter, so expect it within the week.**

**~o~  
**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: Oh, that doesn't sound good. I hope you're okay. One time when we were using Bunsen burners, one kid put his pen in the fire and made it all squiggly. The person he borrowed it from was not happy. And I would agree that it is a pre-story to the real story. I try to make it as entertaining as possible.  
**

**To Sakra: Well, those detail made me uncomfortable, but I can't deny that those versions are out there. The Greek gods are no saints. Is it just me or did that sound wrong?**

**To lunalovegood0628: I laughed too, but it made me a tad uncomfortable. Not a lot, but a tiny bit. Oh, and as for the song, that is Lady Gaga's "Poker Face". Then a later scene had Ke$ha's "Tik Tok". I remembered because when I first saw that scene, I grew a liking for the song after seeing Grover dancing with the others. That was awesome! I can't hear Poker Face without thinking about Percy Jackson.  
**

**To IrukwuUkachi: Yeah, the long wait bums me out too. I can't wait to get to Harry's stories, but I don't have a choice until I am done with Percy's.  
**

**To Yua-hime: I know how you feel about the relationships. When I read a few of those fics I'm like "Why is she so cruel and why is he cowering like a coward. That isn't who he is, or how she acts!" It's a little insulting to the characters themselves. It's too out of character. Sometimes they make them really dumb. Like Leo, for instance. Some fanfics make him out to be clueless and stupid. I doubt Leo's like that; he's shown that he can be quite clever. It really drives me up a wall. And I'm working on the Harry-Ginny relationship. There may not be that much improvement in this book, but there has to be within the next few. At least before they start Harry's books.  
**

**To Ptroxsora: Oh, I love that part! It makes me laugh so hard. Nico really was a cheerful little kid back then. When we get to those books, well, there will be more talk about Nico's behavior and I can guarantee that he's not going to like it.  
**

**To Hayley Granger: You know, I have not considered the couple name for Apollo and Vena yet. Hmm... Veollo? Apollena? I like Apollena, that sounds nice. Well, there is time to consider it, so I'll think it over. Oh, I like your username. It's nice. :)  
**

**To SeanHicks4: Yeah, well, I had considered leaving it out at first, but then I was like, nah, I can make something out of it without it being bad.  
**

**To Splashfire: Yeah, when I heard that version, I could never see Poseidon the same way again. I don't like to think of it, but I can't deny that it's there.  
**

**~o~  
**

**Okay, this chapter is really short compared to the others. Those are like, over 10,000 words while this is around 6,000 to 7,000.  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	18. I Plunge to My Death

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

**I thank Two Steps From Hell for making 'Nero'. It was the only thing that kept me company in the making of this chapter.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**I Plunge to My Death**

* * *

**Sometime in the distant future...**

"Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?"

Two cloaked figures walked silently down the dark corridors of Olympus. They moved soundlessly across the stone floor, pausing at corners to see that no one was following them and that they wouldn't bump into anyone. The person in the front held up her hand to hush the one behind her and peered into the next corridor.

"Mika, we could get in trouble," the girl behind her whispered.

"Phe, trust me on this," Mika said quietly. "I just want to know what she did."

Phe sighed. "She _told_ us what she did," she whispered urgently. "She put them to read books, which is, between you and me, a little boring."

Mika stifled a giggle and snuck down the corridor with Phe right behind her.

"If Papa catches me, I'm dead," Phe whispered to Mika. They had stopped outside a room with tall double doors made of silver and bronze. Inscribed onto it were Ancient Greek inscriptions that spoke of what life was like in the Old Modern Century, before the Lieutenants were brought about.

Mika reached out her hand to open the door. Phe grumbled behind her but she didn't stop her. The two girls quietly entered the chambers. It was dark in there. The only source of light came from a miniature Trevi Fountain at other end of the room. The waters glowed a brilliant shade of blue so that light reflected off the white marble walls and stained glass windows.

"Aunt Vena will know we're here," Phe said nervously as they approached the fountain. "She always knows."

"She hasn't stopped us yet, has she?" Mika asked as they reached the fountain's edge.

"_Yet_," Phe said darkly. "Wouldn't you get in trouble with _your_ dad?"

Mika giggled softly. "What Daddy doesn't know won't hurt him," she said.

Phe groaned. "The last time you said that, he ate the bad pizza," she said, "and ended up in the infirmary for a week."

"Water under the bridge," Mika said dismissively.

The two girls looked into the glowing blue waters. Swirling in the fountain were images — faces and scenes mixed together like cake batter. Mika recognized a few faces — Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Drew Tanaka, Annabeth Chase. Others she didn't, like a man with a lightning scar and rounded glasses, and a boy with bright blue hair. She saw the scene of a red-haired mother desperately protecting her child from a cloaked man. She saw three kids falling through the sky with a bronze dragon.

"Whoa," Phe breathed. "I've heard of these stories. That's Harry Potter!"

"The guy in Elysium?" Mika asked. "The one Thalia told us about?"

"That's him. And his wife, Ginny." Mika looked at where Phe was pointing; two people stood in front of an altar — a tall black-haired young man and a pretty red-haired girl, saying their vows. "This was a really long time ago. Centuries ago."

Mika pulled back her hood a few inches to look at the waters better. Two green eyes reflected the blue glow of the waters. She watched as a teenage guy with black hair and green eyes similar to hers flew on a black pegasus over the Old Manhattan, fighting in the Second Titan War.

"Perseus Jackson," she said, smiling. "Hero of all Heroes."

Suddenly, they heard a thud from behind the door. The two girls gasped loudly before clapping their hands on each other's mouths. There was someone outside the room.

"_Hide!_" Phe whispered. She ran towards the shadows and melted in so that she disappeared into nothing.

"No fair!" Mika grumbled. She could hear someone trying to open the door and panicked. She ran to the other side of the fountain nearest the shadows and tried to think of a way to hide. As the door opened, she nearly squeaked and quickly turned into a puddle of water.

The door opened up and a beautiful young man entered the room.

In the blue glow of the light, his golden tanned skin was a bluish gray. His curly bronze hair was darker and bluish, and his light blue eyes were dark. His designer shoes were smudged with motor oil and his designer clothes had a few burns and smudges of grime.

He approached the fountain carefully before looking around the room. Then he held up his hand an concentrated. Suddenly, it burst into flames, but his skin was perfectly fine. He looked like a male version of Lady Liberty.

"I know you two are in here," he said softly. "Lord Apollo is looking for you. The both of you."

He walked over to the shadows and studied them for a minute. Then he reached out his hand and grabbed something out of nothing.

"Ow!" Phe complained as she was dragged out of the shadows. "That hurts, Chryses!"

"Then you should have come out when I warned you, Phoenix," Chryses said, smirking. "That means you as well, Mika, or do you prefer me to come around manually?"

Mika grumbled in her puddle of water. Then slowly she reformed into her physical self.

"What are you doing here, cousin?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Chryses said, folding his arms. "You know you're not supposed to enter the Hall of the Past without Aunt Vena's permission."

Mika fidgeted. "I wanted to see something," she mumbled.

Chryses rolled his eyes. "What in Hades would you possibly want to see here?" he asked skeptically.

"Hey, watch it!" Phoenix snapped, looking sulky. "I _hate_ when you use Papa's name like that."

"I'm sorry," Chryses said, raising his hands defensively.

"Look, Chryses, can't you give us a minute?" Mika pleaded. "I really wanted to check out something."

"You can do it later," Chryses said. "Apollo wants the both of you at his temple ASAP."

Mika grumbled some more. Chryses and Phoenix sighed and shared resigned glances with each other. Mika was as stubborn as both their parents, who were both known to be seriously stubborn. Together, they grabbed her under her arms and dragged her out of the room.

"Chryses, you're no fun!" Mika complained as she reluctantly followed him down the dark hallway.

"He's a son of Hephaestus," Phoenix said dismissively. "What do you expect?"

Chryses turned to glare at her and his facial features sharpened, making him look twice as glorious.

"Very funny," he said indignantly.

Mika smirked. "You'd think he would be fun since he's _Aphrodite's_ son as well," she said. Then she looked back at the double doors. "Can't we go back for one minute?"

"_No!_"

Mika pouted at them. Phoenix asked her, "Why did you want to go there in the first place? All they were doing was reading books. And we know the stories anyways."

Mika sighed. "I _know_, but, I keep feeling drawn to that room," she said softly. "I feel like I'm _supposed_ to be there."

Chryses huffed. "Mika, that's not possible," he said. "That all happened in the 21st Century. There's no way you could have been around them. What do expect to do, go back in time?"

Little did they know that as they bickered, a figure watched them from the dark shadows. As they approached Apollo's temple, Vena couldn't help but wonder if it was finally time.

* * *

Ginny took the book from Luna and opened up to the next chapter. "**Chapter Thirteen: I Plunge to My Death**." She grimaced at the title. "That sounds lovely."

"I've been there," Harry sighed.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "How many dangerous experiences have you had?" she asked.

"A lot," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Don't even get him started," Hermione said, pursing her lips. "He _loves_ to give people heart-attacks."

Harry gave her an exasperated look.

"It wasn't so bad," he said. Then he noticed the glares. "Okay, it was bad."

Ginny rolled her eyes and started reading. She didn't need the Golden Trio to get into another argument when they were supposed to be in a reading session.

**We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax.**

**I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.**

"Are the gods stalkers, or something like that?" George asked. "I mean, honestly, watching your _every_ move? Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"

"Of course it does," Nico said. "But they always do it. For all we know, they're watching us now."

* * *

Vena looked up from the fountain water and blushed.

"Well, I knew he was going to say that, but this is still awkward," she mumbled to herself.

The kid had a point though. The gods were always watching them. Honestly, the Ancient Laws prohibited them in many way, and most of the time, besides doing their duties, they had nothing better to do.

* * *

George looked around suspiciously. Ginny couldn't help but giggle at him.

"George, stop that," she said. "You look ridiculous."

George eyed her carefully. "You tell me it's ridiculous when you discover that someone is watching you 24/7."

Ginny shook her head in resignation.

**I tried to keep a low profile because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.**

"At least they can't see that it's a sword," Luna pointed out. "That makes it less of a dangerous weapon in their eyes, but still a weapon."

"Yeah, and the wild look wouldn't give you positive points," Travis said, grinning. "They might think you're nuts."

"Ha-ha," Percy said, glaring.

**The picture's caption read:**

**Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers.**

"I would reckon that the old ladies were the accosting ones," Nico said, rolling his eyes. "Oh wait, they're not old ladies. They're demonic servants of my dad."

"I get the logic in that sentence, but it honestly sounds wrong on so many levels," Neville said, frowning to himself.

Nico laughed at his expression.

**The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.**

**"Don't worry," Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.**

"We could get in as much trouble with mortals as we could with monsters," Annabeth said, responding to the stares she received. "We had to be careful, but technically we could still get caught."

"Then why did you say they couldn't find you?" Harry asked.

"Wishful thinking..." Annabeth sighed.

**The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.**

"Tension and ADHD are a really bad combination," Percy muttered.

**Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch.**

"Your centaurs live in the open?" Hermione asked. "The ones at Hogwarts only live in the forest. Well, except for Firenze. He lives in the castle."

"There are quite a few centaur groups who live out in the open like that," Thalia said. "I've come across a few. Mostly, they're wild and free. They love to party too."

"Ah, the Party Ponies," Conner said, grinning. "They know how to throw good parties."

Ron looked startled. "Party Ponies?" No one bothered with him.

"You mean, _chaotic_ parties," Annabeth corrected Conner.

Travis grinned at the very words. "Those are the best!"

Annabeth slapped the forehead. "I fear for your sanity," she said.

Percy shrugged. "Well, they _are_ kind of fun," he said. Then he smiled sheepishly when she glared at him.

**The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved.**

"Quick question," Neville spoke up, "if a mortal saw them, what would they see?"

"Probably people riding horses," Nico suggested. "When I still had trouble seeing through the Mist, that's what I saw. Mostly likely, the Mist might even keep the mortals from looking anyways."

"Okay, thanks," Neville said.

**I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.**

"See," Nico said, smiling.

**Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone.**

"You saw the Nemean Lion?" Thalia said, a smile rising on her face.

"If only I'd killed it then," Percy joked and the two of them started laughing.

The others looked confused. "What's the joke?" George asked.

Thalia hiccuped. "Wait until we start reading the book where we find Nico," she said. "It'll be in that one."

Nico frowned. "I never met the Nemean Lion."

"No, but _she_ did," Percy said slowly.

He took in Nico's reaction. At first he was confused. Then realization sparked — the words set in — and once Nico realized it had been part of his sister's quest, he sunk into the chair, looking glum.

"Oh," was all he said.

**Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me.**

"It didn't really work, but it wasn't that noticeable," Annabeth said, giggling.

Percy groaned and covered his eyes as a few people stifled their snickers.

**Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.**

"That wouldn't have been good," Perce said, grimacing. "It would have raised too many questions."

"It's happened to a few other satyrs in the past," Grover said sheepishly.

"What happened?" Luna asked.

"They ran, never to be seen by those mortals again," Grover replied.

Well, you couldn't blame anyone for laughing now.

**"So," Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"**

**"What do you mean?"**

**"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, '_I won't help you_.' Who were you dreaming about?"**

**I was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered me so much I finally told her.**

**Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."**

"Dad laughs!" Nico said, looking upset. "He just doesn't have a reason to laugh often!"

"How do you know?" Thalia asked skeptically.

Nico blushed. "Bianca told me that Dad was always happy in Mom's presence," he said softly. "She could make him laugh."

"Oh," Thalia said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay, you didn't know," Nico said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"Who's Bianca?" Harry asked.

"My sister," Nico said, trying not to grimace or sound sad.

**"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"**

**"I guess ... if he meant, '_Help me rise from the Underworld_.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"**

**I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something.**

_**Where is it? Where?**_

**Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head.**

"That dream has _nothing_ to do with vegetables," Ron snorted.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I know that!"

**Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy.**

Nico looked like he wanted to hit Annabeth. "He isn't like that!" he declared defensively. "He just has a tough life!"

"Well, when I met him, he wasn't exactly gracious," Annabeth retorted.

"He was angry!" Nico said. "It happens when you're around the dead so much! They're resentful to the living, and rubs off on you! Not to mention that Demeter is always nagging him! His family hates him! You can't blame him for being sour!"

"He's like that to you too!" Grover pointed out.

"Don't you think I know that?" Nico snapped. "You all act like he's evil! My father isn't evil! You don't know what he's really like."

"And you do?" Thalia asked.

Nico grimaced. "Faintly," he said.

"Um, how does that work?" Ginny asked, not impolitely, but simply curiously.

"It's a long story," Nico said. "I can remember certain parts of my childhood when he was around, and he was actually nice." Only recently did he start to remember bits and pieces of his old life. Not a lot, but very distant images, like faint dreams in his head.

"Really?" Percy asked, not sounding rude or skeptical. It was just a question.

"Really," Nico said, looking at his hands. "Dad isn't that bad. People just don't love him, so he returns the favor."

He let those words sink in. Percy remembered that dream he had with Maria and Hades before she died. Maybe Nico had a point. Hades seemed very caring in that memory, and that was because he had loved Maria. And she had loved him back.

It was obvious Nico wasn't going to say anything more, so Ginny started reading again.

**I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time—"**

Ginny looked up from the book. "You sound crazy," she said.

Annabeth blushed.

"They're usually worse," Nico spoke up. He still looked upset, but definitely not in the mood to argue.

"Wait, Annabeth, how do you know this?" Hermione asked.

Before Annabeth could answer, Ginny cleared her throat. "Hermione, we'll probably find out later," she said. "Let's try to finish the chapter, please? Time is not waiting."

Hermione sighed. "Fine."

**"This time?" I asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"**

**Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."**

**"What would you do if it was your dad?"**

Ginny's eyes widened at the next line. "Oh Merlin, Annabeth, you're not serious, are you?"

"What is it?" Harry asked, peering over her shoulder to see in the book. He gaped. "Annabeth, why would you say that?"

"Say what?" Neville asked. He was sitting next to Ginny as well and was able to look into the book. He looked at Annabeth in shock. "You're joking, right?"

Annabeth sighed. "We had a complicated relationship," she said. "I was really sour with him."

"Oh, will you please tell us what's going on?" Ron complained. Ginny glared at him and read:

**"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."**

The Brits, with the exception of Hermione, along with Nico, Rachel, Conner, and Travis gaped at Annabeth. Percy, Grover and Thalia already knew the story along with Hermione, who thought back to that previous conversation she had had with Annabeth while they had been cooking. Then Travis snapped out of his daze and started to consider the reasons for which she might of said it and came to a certain conclusion.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Travis asked.

Everyone looked at him as he started at Annabeth. Conner, who had gotten over his momentary shock, caught onto what his brother was saying to her and sighed.

"We've had mortal-parent issues, too," Conner said, looking at her with sympathy.

"Of course, we wouldn't leave Mom to rot, right?" Travis asked him.

"It depends," Conner said coldly. "If she starts treating us like three year olds and ignores us because we look like Dad, then I'd leave her."

Luna sighed. "She was hurting," she said.

"That's not an excuse to neglect your kid," Conner grumbled

"What are you guys talking about?" Thalia asked.

"Let's just say that we're not fond of Mom," Travis said.

"I'm not fond of my mom either," Thalia said, shrugging.

"Is it like this for all of you?" Perce asked with disbelief. "Well, besides Percy."

"Let's see, Annabeth, myself, Conner and Travis — apparently — have issues. What about you, Nico?" Thalia asked.

"Mom loved me," Nico said, looking sad. "Very much."

Grover saw the looks he got. "My father left to search for Pan when I was young, but he loved me, and so did Mom."

"My parents aren't the best people, but they care — in their own way," Rachel sighed. "They're both mortal."

The Brits exchanged started looks. The Weasleys were confident that their parents loved them to death, so they couldn't say anything about it. Hermione's parents loved her too. Luna's dad loved and cared for her with every fiber he had. Harry's parents were dead, but he knew that they loved him greatly. And Neville knew his parents loved him too, even if they weren't sane.

"Nothing is easy with you people," Ginny sighed. "Oh, Annabeth explains something here."

"Read," George said.

**"You're not serious?"**

**Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."**

**"But how ... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."**

**"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or some thing. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."**

Silence.

"Okay, that is really bad," Conner admitted.

"We've made up since then," Annabeth said quickly. "What I said before, I don't mean it now."

"How do you make up with someone after all that?" Travis asked.

"Not without effort," Annabeth said softly. "It worked out in the end."

'_Luck you_,' Thalia thought. '_That could never happen with Mom and me. Not after Jason's death_.'

"Lucky you," the Stolls muttered.

Luna frowned and gently put a hand on theirs. They looked up from their gloomy attitude and managed to smile at her. She smiled back reassuringly, making it obvious to everyone else that they had made good friends with each other.

**I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but I didn't know how.**

**"My mom married a really awful guy," I told her. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."**

"No it wasn't," Annabeth said softly, resting her head by Percy's neck. "But thank you for trying to cheer me up."

"You're welcome," Percy said, kissing her hair.

**Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much.**

"I resented him, I didn't hate him," Annabeth whispered.

**"He doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife — my stepmom — treated me like a freak.**

Harry grimaced at the wording. Freak. Isn't that what Aunt Petunia called his mother? Isn't that how she treated him?

**She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened — you know, something with monsters — they would both look at me resentfully, like, '_How dare you put our family at risk_.'**

Harry looked at Annabeth, not sure what to say to her. He knew how she felt. After living with the Dursleys, he knew exactly how such treatment could hurt. Involuntarily, he balled his hand into a fist.

Ginny noticed the small movement and almost stopped reading. Then she realized that Harry wouldn't want to get any attention about whatever was going on in his head and plowed on with the book. She promised herself that when they were finished, she'd talk to him about whatever was bothering him.

**Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."**

**"How old were you?"**

**"Same age as when I started camp. Seven."**

Everyone sighed. They hadn't forgotten that Annabeth had said that earlier.

**"But ... you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."**

**"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."**

**I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.**

**Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.**

There were a few snorts.

"Seriously, Percy?" Thalia laughed. "That's your description of it?"

"Well, it looked like that to me!" Percy protested.

**"I want to do that," she sighed.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"**

**"Only in pictures."**

**"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."**

**I laughed. "_You?_ An architect?"**

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She had asked him before what he had thought about her career choice. It hadn't been that offending, but she had given him a big punch for it and reminded him that he hadn't chosen a career yet either.

He hadn't spoken to her for three hours. But then he broke when he realized he _really_ needed to talk to her.

**I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day.**

"The ADHD might not have agreed with you," Thalia giggled.

"Architecture calms me down," Annabeth said, sounding disgruntled.

"I told you the Athena kids were boring," Travis whispered to Conner who gave him two drachmas.

**Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."**

"That hurt," Percy said resentfully.

"I know, I was just a little upset with you," she said.

"I just implied that the career choice seemed out of place," Percy grumbled. "You had to make a crack at my Dad!"

"I'm sorry!" Annabeth said. "I told you before."

Percy couldn't stay mad at her. He took her hand into his but he didn't look at her. Annabeth took that as a good sign; he wasn't going to argue with her. She rested her head on his shoulder and waited for Ginny to read again.

Nico stared at them incredulously. "You guys are weird," he said. They glared at him. He blinked. "That _doesn't_ change my opinion."

**I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.**

**"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."**

**"Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"**

**Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves.**

"That sounds so weird," Ron muttered. Hermione smiled and nudged his side.

**So they had to work together to make it complete."**

**"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"**

**We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.**

**"I suppose," she said at last.**

**We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.**

**Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."**

"How is it that he always says that?" Perce asked, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.

"He's always hungry?" Rachel teased. Grover blushed.

**"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."**

**"Sightseeing?"**

"Wait a minute," George said, holding up his hand to stop Ginny from continuing. "You're on a _quest_ to retrieve a _lightning bolt_ and stop a _war_ among the _gods_ with a _limited_ number of days to do it — and you go _sightseeing_?"

"I'm glad the fate of the world is in the hands of twelve year olds, don't you?" Perce added sarcastically, shaking his head.

The Brits started to notice a significant change in Perce's behavior. When did he start making jokes so often? Even if it wasn't as often as the others, it was quite unusual. He wasn't being as pompous and snobbish as he used to be.

Annabeth blushed. Grover looked offended. "I was twenty-eight!" he protested.

"Then you should have been the adult and reminded them that they had a job to do!" Perce retorted.

Now it was Grover's turn to blush. "It was Percy's quest. He made the orders."

"You could have reminded him," Ron spoke up.

"But he listened to Annabeth more," Grover said, ignoring the exasperated look on Percy's face.

"Then you should have reminded Annabeth," Ginny countered.

"But she wouldn't have listened!" Grover said, ignoring Annabeth's glare.

"Some adult he is," Neville said under his breath. Grover heard him anyway.

"Technically, I still thought like a fourteen year old," he said sheepishly.

"That is still older than twelve," Harry pointed out. Hermione had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't squeal with laughter.

Grover groaned as the Stolls laughed. "There's no winning with you people!"

"Good," George said, grinning. "Ginny, if you may."

"Oh course, brother dear," Ginny said, feeling uplifted by the smile on her grieving brother's face.

**"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"**

**Grover and I exchanged looks.**

**I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone.**

**Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."**

"You jinxed it," Travis declared. "A monster will show up now."

Percy grimaced. How right he was...

**The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s.**

"It wasn't junk!" Annabeth protested.

Ginny hurried on with the book because Annabeth looked like she was going to argue.

**It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay.**

"You have no appreciation for architecture," Annabeth grumbled.

"At least we know he's not going to be an architect," Thalia offered, causing a few people to chuckle.

**I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover.**

**He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Under ground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."**

**But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.**

"You should go with those instincts," Harry said. "They sense danger before you do."

"You could have told me that sooner," Percy grumbled.

"But I didn't know you around that time," Harry said, grinning.

"Touché," Percy laughed.

Despite the cheery attitude they gave off, everyone else was aware that a monster was coming after Percy. Again.

**"Guys," I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"**

**Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"**

**"Well, Hade—"**

**Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"**

**"Um, right," I said. "Our friend _way_ downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"**

**"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."**

**"He was there?" I asked.**

**She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus — the darkest day of the year.**

'_Nico mentioned that earlier_,' Ginny recalled to herself.

**But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."**

**"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"**

**"But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked.**

**Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.**

**"We don't," Grover said.**

"Dad wouldn't stalk you," Nico said. "At least not directly."

"That's very helpful, thank you," Percy said sarcastically.

**"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"**

**I'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when I saw the tiny little elevator car we were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and I knew I was in trouble. I hate confined places. They make me nuts.**

"I noticed," Harry said, remembering how panicked Percy had been in the dark library.

"You said we wouldn't talk about that," Percy said, turning red.

"It's okay Percy, you don't have to be embarrassed," Rachel said, trying not to smile at the memory of Percy begging to be let out of the library.

"About what?" Neville asked.

"I'm claustrophobic," Percy said softly, trying not to blush with embarrassment at the confession.

Thalia looked at him in shock. "I didn't know that," Thalia said, looking at him.

"I am too," Nico said, sighing. Everyone looked at him.

"Hey, dark places, I can handle. Tunnels, as long as they have enough space in them — cool. Enclosed spaces?" Nico shuddered. "Get me the _hell_ out of there."

"Why is that?" Harry asked.

"Inherited," Nico said. "Poseidon and Hades were swallowed as kids along with Hera, Hestia, and Demeter. How do you think they feel?"

"Oh," everyone said, gagging.

"Okay, I don't blame you then," Harry said. "That would make anyone frightened of enclosed spaces."

Percy and Nico nodded in agreement.

**We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it.**

"They make those?" Hermione asked, startled.

"Um, I'm not sure," Percy said. "They a lot of crazy stuff these days."

"Who's they?" Ron asked.

"Muggles," Hermione said.

**We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it.**

**"No parents?" the fat lady asked us.**

**She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.**

A few people suppressed smiles.

"You have no tact!" Rachel chided. "Oh gods, I'd hate to know how you described the rest of us."

"It better not have been bad," Thalia said, glaring at Percy. He raised his hands defensively.

"I don't really remember the first impressions," he said nervously. If he described any of them badly, he knew he was in for a beat down.

"Frankly, I don't care," Nico said, shrugging. "My first impression of you wasn't so hot either, Percy."

There were a few snorts. Percy glared. "Thanks, Nico."

"No problem."

More snorts came from the Stolls.

**"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."**

**"Oh, the poor darlings."**

**The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.**

**I said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"**

**"No," the lady told me.**

**She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.**

"Perhaps it's just a nickname," Hermione suggested.

"I'm sure it was," Percy said grimly. '_For her son, Chimera_.'

**At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick.**

"You were nearly jumping to get back on the elevator," Grover said, remembering how anxious Percy had been up there.

Annabeth winced. "You should have said something," she said regretfully. "I would have gone up there by myself."

_'And would have had to confront Echidna and Chimera_,' Percy told her in Greek. He found it easier to say what he wanted to tell her in this language without the chance of spoiling the story for the other group. '_I prefer it to be me_.'

'_You gave me a heart-attack_,' she muttered. '_Grover wasn't being all to helpful either_.'

'_I was scared_,' Grover said, frowning. '_I didn't want my best friend to die_.'

"Um, I don't mean to bother you all, but could you speak English?" Ron asked, sounding annoyed. "Either that, or save it or later."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And we think _Percy_ has _no tact_," she said.

Ron grumbled at the barb.

**Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor.**

"I don't like see-through floors," Thalia said immediately.

"Why?" Ginny asked. "The view would be pretty spectacular."

Thalia shuddered. "It's just unnatural."

"Unless it's on a boat," Percy said quickly. He knew that Thalia hated people knowing about her fear of heights. "It's great to see the aquatic life that way."

Thalia smiled gratefully. "That's the only exception."

"You know, if you want a see through floor, you can visit the Grand Canyon Skywalk," Nico spoke up. "It's really high, and shaped like a horse-shoe, and you can see all the way down to—"

"Thank you, Nico," Thalia said curtly. "But I don't see how any demigods would ever go to the Grand Canyon. It's in the middle of nowhere."

"No, it's not," Nico said. "It's in Arizona." Thalia glared at him. "What? People _go_ there!"

Thalia huffed.

Nico rolled his eyes. "You act like people jump off the thing."

"They'd have to be a lunatic to do that!" Thalia snapped.

"We're off topic," Ginny sighed, returning to the book.

**She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.**

"That was the hallelujah moment," Percy joked, remembering how relieved he was when it was time to leave.

Annabeth laughed and shook her head at him. Then she remembered exactly how he had left the Arch and sobered up quickly.

**I steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and I was about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me.**

**The park ranger said, "Next car, sir."**

**"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."**

**But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, "Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom."**

"We would have preferred you go the normal way," Grover grumbled.

Percy smiled sheepishly.

Harry frowned. "What do you mean the normal way? What happened?"

When no one answered him, he looked at Ginny. She smiled at him and started reading again. She didn't notice the blush on his cheeks, but everyone else did.

'_They _need_ to get back together_,' Neville thought to himself, not knowing that many of the others were thinking the same thing.

**Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.**

**Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.**

**I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.**

Ginny almost went onto the next line when she realized that the one she had just read didn't sound right. She stared in surprise.

"I'm sorry,_ forked tongue_?" Hermione and Ron asked in unison.

"That's what it says," Ginny said with wide eyes.

Nico groaned. "That's the monster!"

"_Argh!_" the entire room groaned.

**Wait a minute.**

**Forked tongue?**

"Wow, you're slow," Conner said, shaking his head in disappointment.

**Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me.**

**"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."**

"Is the Chihuahua a monster too?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Percy said glumly.

"Oh great, now it isn't only Forked Tongue, but it's a dog too," Travis sighed. "You really have bad luck."

"You're telling me," Percy said.

**"_Doggie!_" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"**

**His parents pulled him back.**

"Good parents," Ron said approvingly. If that really was a monster, then they shouldn't be anywhere near it.

**The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips.**

**"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."**

**Ice started forming in my stomach. "Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"**

"Who has a Chihuahua for a son?" Ron asked, disgusted.

"That's no Chihuahua," Rachel said, grimacing.

**"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected.**

"_A Chimera?_" everyone yelped.

"Those are _seriously_ dangerous!" Hermione said, gulping. "We've studied them in our Care of Magical Creatures classes."

"We've studied them in monster classes," Annabeth said, looking at Percy anxiously. "The Chimera is deadly. No one could ever kill it until one hero finally succeeded."

"Who was that?" Luna asked softly, her eyes wider than usual.

"Bellerophon," Nico said. "My trainer. He told me about it. He said it was harder than it sounded."

"Whoa," the Stolls muttered.

"Hmm," Hermione muttered. "In our records, it says that there was only one slayer of the monster too. It said that a wizard killed a Chimera, although the victory was soured when the wizard fell from his winged horse."

"That's what Bellerophon did," Nico said. "Except he didn't fall of Pegasus, the winged horse."

There was a moment of silence.

"Either they are the same person, or the wizards are copying us," Conner said.

"Hey!" the Brits said, frowning.

"Well, Bellerophon _did_ say that after he completed his quests, he tried to fly to Olympus," Nico said. "Drunk of his pride, probably. Anyways, Zeus cast him off the horse and he fell back to the earth in a place called Plain of Aleion and he lived out his life in misery as a blinded crippled hermit grieving and shunning the haunts of men until he died."

Everyone stared at him.

"Well, in death, he got his sight back," Nico said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't be training me."

"Nico, sweetie, you need to get a life," Ginny said, looking at him over the book. She spoke to him the way an older sister spoke to a baby brother. "Stop hanging around the dead."

Everyone laughed.

"Hey, do you know what's strange?" Thalia asked.

"What?" George asked.

"In the myths, Chimera was female, but here Chimera's male," Thalia pointed out.

Annabeth looked surprised. "How did I not notice that?"

"Maybe they're twins?" Conner suggested. "There are more than one."

"Yuck," George said, grimacing at the thought of monster twins.

**"Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."**

"Not really," Rachel said. "At least for hers, it's easy to mistake. Regular Chihuahuas, not so much."

**She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side ways slits, like a reptile's.**

**The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar.**

**The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.**

"They probably have no clue what's going on," Rachel sighed. "They must be so terrified."

"Would the Mist help?" Luna asked.

"Not by much," Percy said, remembering what that woman had said about the monster in her hysteria.

**The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA — RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS — IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS — EXT. 954.**

"How did you read that?" Neville asked. "You have dyslexia."

"It was in Greek," Percy replied. "Frankly, it didn't help me much."

**I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge.**

**The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"**

**I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"**

There were a few face-palms.

"_Percy_, what is _wrong_ with you?" Annabeth yelped. How dearly she wanted to strangle him for that. "You don't EVER say that to her! She hates it! _Everyone_ knows that!"

"I didn't know that!"

"Besides you!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Annabeth, it's best to just accept that he's suicidal," Conner said, smirking.

Percy glared at him.

**She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"**

"I'd say—" Travis started.

"Oh, shut up!" Percy snapped. "I get it! It was a stupid thing to say!"

Travis held up his hands defensively. "Jeez, calm yourself, man!"

**The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite.**

**I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.**

**I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible.**

**Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me. I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eye brows.**

**Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.**

**Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.**

Everyone groaned. That wasn't something the Mist could hide.

**Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hands, and as the Chimera turned, I slashed at its neck.**

"Percy, when you're up against a creature this dangerous, don't fight it if you don't know it's weaknesses!" Nico chided him, turning — if possible — paler. "The best thing you could have done was run!"

"Considering where I was, that wasn't an option," Percy retorted.

"So you did your signature move, I take it?" Nico grumbled.

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"Winging it," Nico replied sullenly.

**That was my fatal mistake. The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf.**

Everyone winced but Ginny didn't them time to comment. She really wanted to know what happened next.

**My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River.**

"That's just worse," a few people groaned.

**I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost. I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out.**

**I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"**

"For your information, they make heroes just fine," Thalia grumbled.

**The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten.**

**I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just ... die.**

Everyone smiled grimly at that. Even when Percy's life was on the line, he still thought about others' safety.

**I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared.**

"I would have been more than scared," Travis 'confessed' in a mocking voice. "I would have been out cold."

A few people laughed weakly.

**There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.**

**If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?**

**"If you are the son of Poseidon," Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."**

**Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, I'd splatter on impact.**

Percy smiled. '_Oh, how ignorant I was_," he thought to himself.

**The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for an other blast.**

**"You have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."**

Most people gulped. That didn't sound good. It was reassuring to see Percy sitting with them, so they didn't exactly panic.

**She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods.**

**I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle.**

* * *

Somewhere in the house, in the Fountain Room, Vena smiled. "Oh yes he did, young demigod," she said. "You wanted to eat his hand." She recalled how baby Percy tried to suck his father's thumb and laughed.

* * *

**I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son.**

**But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead center of the USA. There was no Sea God here.**

**"Die, faithless one," Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face.**

**"Father, help me," I prayed.**

**I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.**

"That was the end of the chapter," Ginny said, nearly stuffing the book in Harry's hands. "Read, I want to know what happens!"

Harry smiled at her eagerness, but he too wanted to know what happened as he opened up the book. "Me too."

"You jumped?" Hermione exclaimed. "Out of a building. Are you crazy?"

"Did you just ask that question?" Rachel asked.

Percy pouted. "I'm not crazy."

"Yeah, he just does crazy stuff," Travis snickered.

"How is this funny?" George asked.

"He does it all the time," Conner said. "This is one of the least dangerous acts he's committed."

"Suddenly, Harry's life sounds easy," Ron said.

Harry resisted the urge to glare at him as he opened the book.

* * *

**Note about above, read the story I wrote called "Percy Meets Poseidon". That's what Vena was referring to.**

**To lunalovegood0628: Yeah, the last chapter doesn't do too many favors. Oh, and Harry's birthday cake was shaped like a snitch. And Ginny's birthday gift was a kiss. That was one of my favorite chapters.  
**

**To Yua-hime: I completely agree with you about Conner and Travis. They really aren't given that much credit by the fandom. And we have to be a little realistic: Chiron wouldn't really let them be head counselors if they were like that. I guess it's what the writers want them to be, but I give them more credit than that. And I really want George to heal. I think reading the books is distracting him from his brother's death.  
**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: Yeah, I wrote that song. Songwriting isn't my strong point. I actually tried to turn to poetry for help. I think it works okay.  
**

**To lmao234: I haven't really given a thought to Percy vs Harry. I'm not too sure, but maybe as a game...  
**

**To JGS39: I mention in the chapter where I had Hades that Bianca went through rebirth. Nico doesn't know about that yet, so Hazel is still in Asphodel. I have a few plans for Thalia and Jason, but I'm not going to spoil them. Vena just steps in and does the unexpected. And I like Ghost King Nico more. He's just better. And I hadn't noticed the similarities between Percy W. and Annabeth before. It is kind of funny.  
**

**To teanotes: Yeah, I meant the wizard equivalent to the grades. I don't know if Ron knows the muggle ones. He got a wizard's A / muggle's C, I suppose you could say.  
**

**To Andrea Wong, Idea, Hayley Granger: I haven't decided to bring in Fred and from the way I'm writing the story, I don't think he will be either. I know that's disappointing, but Vena has to make those choices, and I don't see her bringing in Fred. I want both groups to be equal, anyways. There's eight on one side and eight on the other. Fred would unbalance that.  
**

**~o~  
**

**Okay, here's a thought to consider. What was going on between Mika, Phoenix, and Chryses? And who do you think they are, exactly.  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	19. I Become a Known Fugitive

**Disclaimer: I don't know Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**Good, this chapter is up. Currently working on the next one. I found that this chapter is pretty short, like the Poodle chapter. So I tried to make it longer. I have a right limit: never be under 9000 words when writing reading-chapters in this story, though I didn't do that for the Poodle chapter. Why am I calling it the Poodle chapter, that sounds weird!  
**

**Does anyone else like "Part of Me" by Katy Perry? I heard it a few days ago (I know, shame on me) and it's one of my favorites now. Listening to it, I can't help but think of Vena. It's like I can see her singing it. Is that strange or what?  
**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

**I Become a Known Fugitive**

* * *

"He does it all the time," Conner said, referring to Percy's dangerous acts. "This is one of the least dangerous acts he's committed."

"Suddenly, Harry's life sounds easy," Ron said, sounding grateful that he didn't have to go through what Percy had to go through.

Harry resisted the urge to glare at him as he opened the book. He knew Ron was referring to the fact that the past seven years for them hadn't been all pleasant. He wasn't happy about it either, but Ron had every right to think what he did. Harry cleared his throat and looked at the chapter title. He smiled.

"**Chapter Fourteen: I Become a Known Fugitive**," Harry read. He sighed. "Been there. Done that. It wasn't fun. Got the t-shirt." Everyone knew he was joking about the t-shirt, but the part before was what got their attention.

"You're — _kidding_ — me," Thalia said, gaping at him.

"Nope," Harry said glumly. "One of the worse few months in my life."

"Yeah, and he dragged _us_ along with him," Ron said, indicating at himself and Hermione.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "I didn't _drag_ you. You _volunteered_ to come with me."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, we weren't going to leave you by yourself, Harry."

"Since First Year, you've made it obvious that you'd die without us," Ron added bluntly. Hermione swatted him over the head and he gaped at her in surprise.

Harry chuckled. "Oh, how right you are, Ron."

Ginny shuddered. She hated to think of him dying. And she hated how he was so nonchalant about it all.

**I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, etcetera.**

**The truth? My only thought was: _Aaaaggghhhhh!_**

Harry choked on his words as he tried to mimic the yell written in the book, mainly because he was laughing at the irony.

"It wasn't funny!" Percy protested. That didn't stop the Stolls and Ron from chuckling.

Harry hiccuped. "Sorry," he muttered, grinning. He cleared his throat and looked back down at the book.

**The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.**

**And then: _Flaaa-boooom!_**

"Harry, that was pathetic," Ron commented, noting how Harry hadn't said that with feeling. "I could do better than that."

"Not now, Ron," Harry said, not looking up from the page. "Wait your turn."

**A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.**

**But my impact with the water hadn't hurt.**

"How is that possible?" Hermione asked, her mouth gaping open. "From a fall that high, you should be dead, not just unharmed. How does that happen?"

"Uh, hello? Son of _Poseidon_," Percy said, like that answered everything.

"Water is his friend," Nico added. "It helps, not hurts."

Hermione tried to see how that all fit together to protect Percy from death. "That's so wrong," she said, shaking her head. "That's not natural, not even by supernatural terms."

"Unless your Superman," Travis pointed out. "I mean, did you see the movie where he fell from—"

"Leave that out of this," Thalia said, shaking her head at Travis. "It's unrealistic."

"Oh really?" Percy asked in a challenging voice. "How about when I was shot out of Mount St. Helens?"

Hermione gaped. "What?" she asked in a dead whisper.

Annabeth groaned. "Moving on! We'll find out about that later. Harry read!"

Harry obeyed, not sure if he really wanted to hear what they were talking about.

**I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage — beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags — swirled up all around me.**

Grover gagged in disgust, and he wasn't the only one.

"Someone needs to do something about that," Rachel groaned.

"The naiads really shouldn't let the mortals do that anymore," Grover said. "I'm going to have to talk to them about that."

**At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.**

"Water heals me," Percy said happily. "Most of the time."

"So lucky," a few other people grumbled.

**Second realization: I wasn't wet.**

"Alright, _that_ is officially wrong," Hermione interrupted. Harry sighed, realizing that this might happen a lot. "That isn't logical! You're in _water_ and you're not even _wet_?"

"It's one of his powers," Annabeth said simply. "He has a lot of them."

"Yeah, which is so unfair," Nico added. "All I can do is summon the dead, communicate with the dead, travel through shadows, sense death, and summon a small about of hellfire at a time."

"And all I can do is summon lightning, electrocute people, and summon freak winds," Thalia grumbled. "Thanks for the gifts, Dad. While you two have more than four powers, I'm stuck with three!"

Percy and Nico tried not to laugh at her. They were successful when she turned a death glare on each of them.

"Everything I know is breaking apart," Hermione said to herself, sinking her head into Ron's chest. Ron tried not to look amused as he patted her bushy hair, trying to comfort her.

**I mean, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see where the fire on my clothes had been quenched. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry.**

"His _clothes_ are dry too?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Hermione, enough," Harry complained. "It's not that big a deal. He is the son of Poseidon, after all."

George leaned towards Perce and whispered, "I'm kind of with Hermione on this one."

"Me too," Perce whispered back.

Neville heard them and laughed softly.

**I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.**

**No way, I thought.**

**I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.**

"Okay, besides the insanity of that, you have to admit that is wicked!" Ron exclaimed, looking wistful.

"Greek fire can do that same thing," Nico said. "It is hard to extinguish."

"Greek fire?" Ginny asked.

"It's green," Annabeth said. "Very different from the average fire."

"Green fire, eh?" Ron said. "Reminds me what happens to flames when you add Floo Powder."

The Brits nodded in agreement. The Greeks didn't understand what they meant.

**I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry.**

**I lit it with no problem. As soon as I let it go, the flames sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag. Weird.**

**But the strangest thought occurred to me only last: I was breathing. I was underwater, and I was breathing normally.**

"Wait, you can BREATHE underwater?" The Brits exclaimed.

"I _really_ envy you now," Ron said, shaking his head.

Harry grinned. The memory wasn't pleasant, but in this situation, it was amusing. "Been there, done that," he said. "Again, not pleasant."

Everyone stared at him incredulously.

"How?" Thalia asked.

"Fourth year, second task, gillyweed," Harry said. "One of the most unnerving experiences ever that year."

"What — _Oh!_" the Brits exclaimed. How could they have forgotten that?

The Greeks didn't understand them, again.

"You had weed?" Conner asked, looking confused. Travis snorted at the question. Harry didn't strike him as the person to do drugs at all. Why didn't his friends look bothered with that?

"_Gilly_weed," Harry corrected, continuing with the book before anyone could ask him anymore.

**I stood up, thigh-deep in mud. My legs felt shaky. My hands trembled. I should've been dead. The fact that I wasn't seemed like ... well, a miracle. I imagined a woman's voice, a voice that sounded a bit like my mother: _Percy, what do you say?_**

"Your mom?" Ron asked, startled.

"No, just someone who sounded like her," Percy replied. "She was friendly, though."

**"Um ... thanks." Underwater, I sounded like I did on recordings, like a much older kid. "Thank you ... Father."**

"You can talk underwater?" Harry asked. Percy nodded. "I tried that, but it didn't really work."

A few people grinned. "What happened?" Percy asked curiously.

"Bubbles came out my mouth," Harry said glumly. Myrtle had laughed at him for that, and he was still embarrassed.

Percy chuckled at Harry's disgruntled expression. At least he couldn't do that.

**No response. Just the dark drift of garbage downriver, the enormous catfish gliding by, the flash of sunset on the water's surface far above, turning everything the color of butterscotch.**

**Why had Poseidon saved me? The more I thought about it, the more ashamed I felt. So I'd gotten lucky a few times before. Against a thing like the Chimera, I had never stood a chance. Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast. I couldn't protect them. I was no hero. Maybe I should just stay down here with the catfish, join the bottom feeders.**

"Don't you think like that!" Annabeth snapped, turning a stern eye towards her boyfriend.

"Yeah, you're a better hero that you give yourself credit for," Rachel added, surprised that Percy was so down on himself. It was no wonder why he was so determined not to fail anything.

"Not to mention you saved all of us several times," Nico said, folding his arms. He'd be dead if Percy hadn't been there.

"Yeah, but that was all _recently_," Percy said. "Around _that_ time, I wasn't a big hero. I was a demigod on an insane quest."

"That doesn't change the fact that you had the _potential_," Ginny spoke up, raising an eyebrow. "You were twelve years old, Percy. You couldn't have expected yourself to solve everything."

"I still felt terrible," Percy sighed.

"Look, did those people live?" Conner asked bluntly. Percy nodded while all eyes turned to the younger Stoll. "Then shut up and stop being so depressed! That monster was after _you_ alone, not them. Once you were gone, it had no reason to be up there. So you did save them. You left. It left. They lived. End of story!"

Everyone stared at Conner in surprise. He frowned. "What? I wasn't _that_ harsh!"

"Since when did you start giving rational talks?" Annabeth asked, looking stunned.

Travis laughed. "Oh, _that_," he said. "He does it to everyone in the Hermes cabin _all_ the time. Usually our half-siblings alone. He had to do it a lot in battles and chariot races."

"It's irritating," Conner said bitterly. "You'd _think_ they'd have some confidence of their own, but _no!_ I'm one of the cabin counselors, so automatically, _I_ have to be the responsible one when they aren't!"

"Uh, _hello_, I'm the _other_ cabin counselor," Travis said. "I have to act that way too!"

"Yeah, but you have to deal with all the _problems_ that cabin _causes_," Conner grumbled. "I'm usually stuck dealing with the more personal problems _within_ the _cabin_."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll switch for a week!"

"Deal," Conner said, holding out his hand immediately.

Hermione leaned over to Harry and Ron and whispered, "Wasn't Luke the head counselor?"

"Maybe something happened to him," Ron suggested in a soft tone so no one else could hear.

**_Fump-fump-fump_. A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.**

**There, not five feet in front of me, was my sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.**

**I heard that woman's voice again: Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you. This time, I knew the voice wasn't in my head. I wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar.**

"What's—?"

"Not _now_, Ron, we're reading!"

"_Fine_, Ginny!"

**"Where are you?" I called aloud.**

**Then, through the gloom, I saw her — a woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.**

"Who's that, a naiad?" Thalia asked curiously. She sounded like a water spirit.

"No, it wasn't," Percy said.

"Then who is it?" Ron asked.

"Keep reading."

Ron turned to Hermione and said, "He's no fair, you know?"

**A lump formed in my throat. I said, "Mom?"**

_**No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hope less as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.**_

"You have a quest to do, you can't go to the beach," George pointed out.

"But going to the beach helped with the quest," Percy said. "It'll be explained in a few chapters."

**"What?"**

_**It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.**_

"It's more than foul," Grover grumbled, folding his arms and looking upset.

Thalia patted his shoulder sympathetically.

**"But ..." I was sure this woman was my mother, or a vision of her, anyway. "Who — how did you—"**

**There was so much I wanted to ask, the words jammed up in my throat.**

**_I cannot stay, brave one, _the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress._ You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts..._**

"What gifts?" Perce asked.

"It comes up later," Grover told him.

**Her voice faded.**

**"Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!"**

**She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If it was my mother, I had lost her again.**

**I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning.**

"I wouldn't call that a problem," Harry said grimly. "I could have really used that power in Fourth year."

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"Let's just say I had to retrieve something I deeply valued from a lake and I only had an hour to do it," Harry said, glancing at Ron. He didn't know what he would have done if he lost his brother.

**Your father believes in you, she had said.**

**She'd also called me brave ... unless she was talking to the catfish.**

"Percy, she came to talk to _you_, not the _catfish_," Travis said, laughing.

Percy tried not to turn red but he failed. He really used to doubt himself a lot. He still did, but not as much as he did then.

**I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. The Chimera might still be up there with its snaky, fat mother, waiting to finish me off. At the very least, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found me, they'd have some questions.**

"You don't want to be found by them," Rachel said. "That would mean a serious delay in the quest."

"They didn't find us," Percy said. "Yet."

A few people groaned. "That doesn't make us feel better," Ginny said.

**I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. "Thank you, Father," I said again to the dark water.**

**Then I kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.**

**I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's.**

**A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve.**

**A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river."**

"That's not good," Ron said.

"Don't worry about it," Percy said. "Nothing happened."

**"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.**

"She's not paying attention!" A few people laughed.

**"But he's dry!"**

**"That's nice, dear."**

"Thank you, mortal ignorance!" Conner said with a wide grin while he pumped his fist in the air. Then he looked at Rachel and the Brits. "No offense."

They rolled their eyes at him.

"Why did the little girl see him? Was she clear-sighted?" Hermione asked.

"I doubt it," Thalia said. "Little kids are much more open to seeing life the way it is than adults. Their innocence allows them to see what adults can't. Of course, they are the ones with 'the wild imaginations' and when they get older and start to learn fears and normalcy, they learn to dismiss what they had originally seen because it didn't fit the status quo."

"That's true," Rachel said, nodding. "They don't want to know anything abnormal, so they dismiss it. Claim it never happened. Forget about it. And the Mist helps to make sure that they don't linger on it. In truth, all mortals can be clear-sighted, but they just choose not to."

"So you chose to see this very disturbing world?" Nico asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I didn't grow up to think like the other kids," Rachel said. "I'm very open-minded to everything. Apollo said that I have very high psychic abilities to see the world the way it truly is. The Mist couldn't affect me. It also allows me to carry the Oracle with ease."

Ron leaned down and whispered in Hermione's ear, "When I hear psychic, I can't help but think of Trelawney, but Rachel's nothing like her."

Hermione smiled. "Thank god," she said.

"Do you think that wizards might be able to see your world?" Luna asked curiously.

Annabeth shrugged. "We don't really know. The fact that you can see some of our monsters, like Chimeras, indicate that there is a good chance of it."

"Interesting," Luna said, smiling.

**A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation.**

"Yeah, I don't think they'll ever really solve this investigation the right way," Nico said. "They'll only buy what the Mist gives them."

"Well, it's either that, or the fact that a mythological chimera was up in the arch trying to kill a demigod who was on a quest to retrieve Zeus's master bolt and stop a war," Thalia said. "Which would you buy?"

Nico didn't know whether to smile or scowl at her, so settled for glaring instead. Thalia laughed at him. It wasn't that hard, but it unnerved her how much he looked like his father when he did that.

**The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."**

**Survivors. I felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. I hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay.**

**I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.**

**"... an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities..."**

"You know, sometimes I really hate the Mist," Percy grumbled as everyone started snickering at the thought of him going wild and setting of an explosion on the observation deck.

"The only time you don't hate it is when it saves you life," Nico agreed, smirking.

**I backed away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.**

**I'd almost lost hope of ever finding Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, "_Perrr-cy!_"**

**I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug — or goat hug.**

Grover shook his head in amusement while Percy smiled sheepishly.

**He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"**

"Wait, this _isn't_ the hard way?" Rachel asked, staring at Grover in disbelief.

"_Heh_." Grover chuckled weakly.

**Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me.**

"Of course I did," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "I was worried about you."

"Well, it all turned okay, right?" Percy asked.

"Only barely," Thalia snickered. "Give your girlfriend a heart-attack, why don't you?"

Annabeth blushed. "He wasn't my boyfriend yet, and we all know that wasn't the last heart-attack."

Percy grinned sheepishly at her. "My bad," he said.

**"We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"**

**"I sort of fell."**

Everyone resisted staring at Percy incredulously.

"Sort of?" Ginny asked shrewdly.

Percy pursed his lips sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair.

**"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"**

It was becoming harder now. Grover could have sworn that a fire lit under Percy's skin from the blush that crept up around him.

**Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"**

"Oh dear gods," Rachel said as everyone could resist laughing at how the woman had said that.

"Huge Fire-breathing Chihuahua," Perce whispered, shaking his head. "That's something to report to Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

**"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."**

**"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw me. "_There he is! That's the boy!_"**

"Oh, dude, not good," Nico said, grimacing.

"I know." Percy sighed.

**I turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd.**

**"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"**

**I told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, my high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.**

"I was so mad at that point," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "I started to believe we should have stayed up there with you."

"That would have made me panic more," Percy said, a look of terror creeping up in his eyes. "Knowing that the two of you would be in more danger because of me."

**"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."**

**Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, and I almost froze in my tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."**

"I can't catch a break," Percy groaned.

Thalia patted his shoulder sympathetically.

**We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.**

**"First things first," I told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"**

**Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station with out getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.**

"And I am done," Harry said. "That chapter seemed quite short."

"True," Ginny said. "But at least you didn't have to read very long."

Harry smiled. "That's a positive." He held out the book to Ron. "Your turn."

Ron looked surprised when he saw the book under his nose. "Why me?"

"Because your next in line," Hermione said in an amused voice. "I read next, after you."

Ron looked sulky. He wasn't in a reading mood.

"Come on, Ron, it's just one chapter," Neville said. "We all have to read."

The youngest Weasley son sighed. "Fine, I'll read," he said, taking the book from his best friend.

"See, was that so hard?" Ginny asked, teasing him.

"Very funny, Ginny," Ron grumbled.

* * *

Vena yawned wearily. She was starting to feel hungry. She could still keep an eye on the readers and make herself a snack at the same time.

She stood up from the fountain and turned into a starry mist, reappearing in her kitchen. "Let's see what I have," she said. She went to the refrigerators and looked through the list of drink brands she had. She had almost forgotten she had this many stuff in the refrigerator. She took up a bottle of cola and went picked up a whole cheesecake from her cake freezer hidden from the wizards' and demigods' sights (those belonged to her alone, after all).

She sat at the table and summoned a fork out of thin air. Taking a small sip of cola, she decided to see how the rest of the universe was working out. She could still hear the readers — they were the closest people near her so they were really loud — but she did have a job to do. She went ahead to see what the mortals were doing first.

A wave of voices swam through her head. She closed her eyes to see visions of mortals in every country all over the world. Emotions channeled into her: hate, love, anger, resentment, happiness, hope, fear, excitement, regret, confusion, doubt, lust, hopelessness — each seeped into her. She saw marriages, births, murders, friendships being made — and broken, birthdays, anniversaries, parties, funerals all over the world. Sicknesses taking over. Illnesses being cured. Hearts being broken. Love being shared. Lives taken. Lives given. She could still hear the readers, but they weren't centered in her thoughts and sights.

There was a woman in Ohio would had just given birth to a stillborn baby. Two teenager girls in Vancouver who were fighting over the same boy. An old lady in Michigan who was mourning the death of her only son. A teenager in Tennessee was considering suicide to escape his problems. Vena pushed her thoughts more towards him. She had done this before, and many mortals had chosen the wrong path. She felt into his thoughts to see his reasons. Bullying. That wasn't new. She pushed her voice to sound like his.

'_But do I really want this?_' she asked him. '_I hate what they do to me. Will dying help?_'

'_I can't stand them_,' he thought, wanting to scream. '_One rumor and they won't leave me alone_.'

He was ready to jump off a bridge into rushing waters. '_Your father asked you why you were so depressed_,' Vena insisted. '_You can tell him_.'

'_He never listens_.'

Vena thought about his father and saw him in his study, reading. He didn't know what his son was going to do. '_Where's James?_' she asked in his voice. He looked up. Where _was_ James? He had been so angry when he left... He wanted to know why.

'_There_,' Vena thought to herself. Then she turned back to James. He was about to leap.

'_You could be wrong_,' she said. '_Give him a chance. He'd want to listen. You want him to listen_.'

Janus, the two faced Roman god of doorways, stood next to him, looking at Vena's latest attempt. "Well, chose boy! What will it be?" From here, Vena had no control. She could give James options, but Janus was the one to carry it through.

"Go, or stay," Janus's left said. "Take a pick!"

"Living would be better than dying," Janus's right pointed out in a calm tone. "But you would have to face your fears."

"Death would mean not facing it anymore," Janus's left added nastily.

Vena dived into James' head and pulled out his most recent memory of his father. He _did_ look like he wanted to help. Die, or not?

"Well?" Janus's left asked rudely.

James closed his eyes and looked away from the river and ran off bridge. Janus disappeared and Vena left James alone.

"Nice one, kid," Janus's right said to Vena. "If only the _last one_ had listen to you..."

"I can't save everyone," Vena told him sadly. "All I can do is guide them. In the end, they make their choice alone. You, of all gods, know this."

"Too right I do. See you later, your highness," Janus's left said before leaving completely.

Vena let her mind wander again. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with a situation like that, and many times she had been unsuccessful in persuasion against it. She couldn't deny that the worst darkness in the world lay inside the head of mortals. It didn't have to be monsters and rogue demigods alone.

Vena went like this for some time, keeping up with the readers _and_ the mortal world. She would find several mortals with problem or dilemmas. Many would seem silly, like not knowing what shoe to wear, and others would seem unimportant, like choosing to eat a carrot instead of celery. Still, these were tiny parts of mortal lives that could not be easily dismissed. Vena's motto was "Everything Happens For A Reason". It was a saying practically made for her. She could change the minutest detail in a person's life, and that small change would lead to something bigger. She could change the biggest problems and lead them either to a great fix, or make them worse.

Being the guide wasn't a job that could be taken lightly. She couldn't play favorites. She couldn't solve everyone's problems. That was one of the reasons that she kept her existence a secret. If anyone knew about her, they would plead directly TO her, and that was something she couldn't stand. She had a tad more power than a god, but that was because she was primordial.

Still, she was bound by the Laws of Chaos not to have major interference. That was why she couldn't fight in wars — she'd cause a massive power upset. She couldn't make the biggest decisions at all. She could only give the slightest hint of a nudge. However, the person she nudged would have to chose on their own, and if they chose wrong, she couldn't change that, but only make the best of it. And she knew the several possible outcomes, so she knew how to get her way, but she didn't always use it.

That's why when a little boy was lost in a park, she'd blow into his ear, causing the child to look where she wanted it to: the direction of its parent. Then she would leave the child to stand there or go to see where his parents were. She couldn't go directly to him, and yes, it seemed cruel that she wouldn't really help, but she had no choice. Luckily, the child ran in the direction of his parents and bumped into Grandpa.

Then she would go to the woman who didn't know what to cook for her children and help out in the tiniest sense. To the teenager who didn't know where to go to the mall with friends or to the hospital to see his dying father, despite their estranged relationship. From the drunken guy who was heartbroken that his wife was having an affair with his best friend to the woman mourning her husband's death; from the girl who felt abandoned by her parents to the old man who risked losing his house; from the child who had no food to eat to the family who had nowhere to sleep; from the billionaire who sat in his massive mansion, lonely and unloved, to the poorest family in the village celebrating the marriage of their eldest child...

Then it was to people who were having a good day. Like Nemesis, Vena had to help with fairness, but only because she knew that they weren't supposed to either live or die. She'd cause a hard-working man to forget the time and reach to work late. Despite him being angry, that was for the best. If he had gone to work on time, he would have been hit by a bus. Or maybe it was the person who had a flight to catch. She delayed the flight because Zeus had placed a storm in the plane's midsts. Yes, the person would be late for a wedding in Europe, but she, and the other passengers, would live.

Let's just say that Vena had a long, typical day.

Eventually, she moved to the demigods after a while. In Camp Half-Blood, Katie Gardner was gardening. That was the moment where the demigods had disappeared, at least to her. She knew that time stopped for no one, not even her, but she would be able to return the demigods, the satyr, the Oracle, and the wizards to the exact point she can taken them, so it would see that they had never left, and they wouldn't age in her home.

Looking at Katie, Vena saw Pollux arrive to give her the grapes she had asked him for. His thoughts were currently on his deceased twin brother, Castor. That situation reminded her of Fred and George. She knew it was impossible to ask Hades to lend her Fred's souls for the reading, and taking him from another time would upset the balance of times, which would cause her serious trouble with her father. She moved her thoughts to San Francisco.

Camp Jupiter worked as it always had. Many Romans were building fortifications in the Field of Mars for the next war games. Dakota and Gwen were eating lunch with Bobby at a restaurant in New Rome. Praetor Jason Grace was dueling with Praetor Reyna again. Reyna was winning this time. They were cute together, but Vena knew that they would have a hardship ahead that would ensure that they either became lovers of just remained friends. She looked looked at Pluto's shrine. When she returned the demigods, Nico would have a choice to make. Hmm, that was interesting to her. She looked over the temples; Octavian was being his annoying self and killing stuffed animals. She couldn't see how he and Apollo were related.

Just thinking of Apollo sent Vena's thoughts to France. In the distances, she heard the Stolls laughing hysterically. Ah, the Cupid Cams. Yes, that had been a funny incident to watch. She could still remember Hermes falling off his throne when he saw them on _Hephaestus TV_. Poseidon and Athena, on the other hand, hadn't been pleased.

Still, she could see France. Apollo was walking down the street with pretty blond Anastasie, hand in hand. Vena was long from feeling jealous — more like exasperated. However, she was still miffed with him. She saw a pigeon overhead and grinned.

"Ah!" Apollo yelped as the pigeon pooped on his pants. Vena nearly choked on her Cola laughing. She quickly turned her thoughts elsewhere before he sensed her presence. There would be a consequence for that action, one that benefited Apollo mostly, but still, it had been worth it to see the look on his face. Her mind almost wandered to 1920's France on that night of Aphrodite's party, but she brushed it away. It wasn't important to her.

She moved on to look at the gods. Hmm, Persephone was with Demeter at a flower shop. Persephone was yearning to be somewhere else where her mother wouldn't be. The thoughts turned to Ancient Greece where Hades used to visit her in secret and bring gifts. She missed that romantic side in him. Vena had almost forgotten it to, especially how in the very early days before his marriage to Persephone, Hades had been considered one of the top five most handsome gods. Persephone might not have admitted it to Demeter, but she hadn't minded marrying him. The thought made Vena giggle so she quickly moved on.

Hephaestus was nursing his wounds. No surprise there. Aphrodite was with her son Eros, gazing at the love life of a mortal woman who thought she didn't want love anyone because she had too much work to do.

Athena was in her temple, simply thinking quietly to herself. She caught Vena's mental eye looking and waved at her. There was no surprising that woman. Vena sent her a mental '_hello_' and moved on to Poseidon. She didn't surprise him either. He actually ensnared her in a ten minute catching-up conversation ("Really, Amphitrite got stuck _again_?" "Well, she was never good with nets. It took a while for Triton to help her out of it." "That reminds me of the time _you_ got stuck in a net." "I was young!" "It's wasn't that long ago, Doni!" "Hmph!") before Zeus entered the room. She assured Poseidon that his son Percy was safe and sound right before she took her leave.

So many thoughts. Millions of millions of millions. Vena was far used to it: hearing the voices of toddlers who could barely speak, to children, to teenagers, to young adults, middle-agers, to elderly, to immortal, even. Vena closed her eyes and decided to send a bit of her essence to an old friend of hers. She needed a break.

She ended up in front of Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles (R.O.F.L) and entered the store.

"Hey, Fleecy!" she called to the white-haired nymph by the register who was reading a comic. She was short and muscular, with lace-up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow T-shirt with the store's logo.

"Oh, hey, Venaurora!" she said, coming forward to give her a hug. "Wow, I haven't seen you in so long! How are you?"

"Fairly well," Vena said, smiling. "And you?"

"Good," she said, smiling. "There haven't been too many customers lately."

Vena thought about her cheesecake and cola back home. Iris would have a heart-attack, and the very thought made her giggle. "Well, then I will buy two corn cakes and a soy yogurt, please."

"Coming right up," Fleecy said, going to get the order. She called to the back-room, "Iris, Venaurora's here!"

Vena smiled. Fleecy never called her by her nickname. It was always her full first name, Venaurora.

Vena looked around the shop as she heard Iris's thoughts register her arrival. Iris was a really old friend of Vena's. Vena became a second sister to Iris when Iris's twin sister, Arke, was thrown into Tartarus for serving the Titans during the First Titan War. After that, the two became close as twins sisters themselves.

Iris walked out of the back-room, dressed in blue denim jeans and a R.O.F.L t-shirt. "Vena!" she said eagerly, pulling her into a hug. "Ah, I haven't seen you in two years!"

Vena smiled. "And I see you everyday," she said. "Strange how that works."

"I would call you a stalker, but I know exactly how tough your job is," Iris, said, smiling. "Come sit."

Iris and Vena walked over to a café table at a bay window. Fleecy arrived with Vena's order. Vena gave her a few drachmas and Fleecy returned to the register, cashed in the money, and returned to her comic. Iris smiled as Vena opened the yogurt. These products weren't Vena's favorite, but they still tasted good — to her. She didn't mind eating them.

She sat and let Iris talk about what she had been up to lately, even though Vena already knew it all. She didn't like flaunting that she did. She usually let the other person talk as to keep up a small veil of normalcy.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Iris asked when she was done.

"Reading," Vena said innocently.

Iris smiled. "Oh, it had to be more than that," she said cheekily. "I notice the sun is brighter today. Apollo is happy about something. The only time the sun is bright and not hot is when Apollo is around you. I take it that he's involved."

Vena tried not to blush. "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone," she said. "And that includes you too, Fleecy!" she called to the counter. Fleecy laughed, embarrassed that she had been caught eavesdropping. But of course, this was Vena; she didn't have to see Fleecy to know that she was listening.

"Deal," the two of them said.

Vena closed her eyes and used her senses to check in with the readers. It was Hermione's turn to read. That meant that she had to go back soon. She started off with what they were reading and who they were reading with. Iris was surprised that she included the British wizards, but she respected that Vena had her reasons. After all, wizards were mortals gifted by Hecate herself, and very few were ever demigods or legacies. Still, their existence towards each other was commonly hushed up, not because they couldn't get alone, but because they were dangers to each other.

By the time Vena was finished, she was on the last of her corn cakes. "So, Apollo is helping me out," she concluded. "He likes the freedom he has on Star."

"Where is he now?" Iris asked. "Monitoring them?"

Vena shook her head. "He's on a date," she said. Then she smiled. "I made a pigeon poop on him."

Iris laughed. "My gods, Vena! You're older than the rest of us, and yet you are one of the most immature," she said, smiling.

"I've always been this way," Vena said, smiling in a sweet, good-natured fashion. "Even in the Ancient Days."

"Oh, I remember those days," Iris said. "You drove Apollo crazy."

Vena grinned. "I still do."

The Rainbow goddess shook her head. "When will you finally give that boy a chance?" she asked. "He's chased you for millennia and you've never given him more than a kiss on the cheek and a few hugs. I can see it in your eyes, Vena, you love him."

Vena sighed. "Iris, he's the god of bachelors. He runs around with a different woman every week. Almost everyday. I refuse to be one of them."

"Is that your only excuse?"

The daughter of Chaos rolled her eyes. "It's not an excuse, it's a fact," Vena said. "I know Apollo. I know the thoughts in his head, good and bad, and I've seen through the eyes of all his heartbroken lovers. It's _terrible_, and he _barely_ regrets it all anymore. When it comes to my future around him, everything is hazy. I am _not_ risking it."

The goddess tutted. "It's called faith, dear, you should try it," she said.

"And face the wrath of Chaos?" Vena asked skeptically. "No way in hell. I care about Apollo, even if he hurts me. And if he does, then Daddy will rip him apart and force him to fade."

Iris looked uncomfortable when she said that. "He wouldn't do that," Iris said, though she sounded a little uncertain. "He would risk killing _Artemis_ and sending the sun and moon into turmoil."

Vena smiled sadly. "Hey, if Helios and Selene can be replaced by Apollo and Artemis, then the Twin Archers can be replaced by someone else," she said darkly. "And besides, I don't really need a love life. I have enough on my plate as it is."

Vena was determined to keep that a reality, but then a few of Apollo's thoughts cropped up in her head. Not immediate ones, but definitely recent. Who knew that the Eiffel Tower would remind him of her in the 1920s? Especially when she had been in those awful clothes.

'_Still in denial, is she?_' Iris thought to herself.

"It's not denial," Vena said. Iris didn't so much as flinch. "It's more like keeping up a precaution."

'_Or maybe you just don't want to get hurt_,' Iris thought.

"I didn't exactly come here to chat about my love life, Iris," Vena said glumly. "It's too boring."

The Rainbow goddess laughed. "Venaurora Veryna, your life is anything but boring," Iris said, smiling. "I would know, after all these years."

Vena laughed. She opened her mouth to reply when she heard the readers go on to chapter after Vegas. "Wow, I've been gone a long time," she said. "They are getting closer to the end of the book."

"You have to go?" Fleecy asked. "Can't you stay longer?"

Vena exhaled dejectedly. "Nope, I have kids to look after," she said. "I don't want them messing up my home."

The two R.O.F.L workers didn't look very happy about that, but they said their goodbyes quickly before Vena made her way to the exit. Her hand grazed passed on of the statues of Poseidon and a vision of Percy, a dark-skinned girl and a chubby faced Chinese guy appeared in her mind, accidentally breaking it.

"Um Iris," she said. "Be careful where you put the statues. I think that within a year, one of them will break."

"What? Those are expensive!" Iris exclaimed. "Thanks for the warning."

"No problem," Vena said before leaving. She had a feeling that no matter what Iris did, that statue would still break anyway.

* * *

**So that's it for this chapter. I still think it was pretty short, so I added Vena's part in it. I hope no one minds too much. I'm trying to read the books and expand the story more.**

**So in the last chapter, I added Mika, Phoenix, and Chryses. Note to all, they are not coming into the story immediately. More like eventually. It will be a long while, but that wasn't the last time you'll see them. Just a small heads up. They are important characters to my stories. Note the plural. There will be a sequel after the sequel. Another heads up.  
**

**To Sakra: Time travel is a close point. I actually like that idea, but not to change anything in the past. That would mess up the future.  
**

**To myrddin767: Well, those three had a small part to play with Vena' prophecy. Actually, I think it's mostly Mika.  
**

**To JGS39: I think 10-year-old Nico was really sweet, but seriously hyper. Probably the ADHD or something of the sort. Oh, in my story so far, Nico doesn't know about Bianca's rebirth. Just saying. That will be a nasty shock for him to know that his sister will be reborn and he'll never see her again. And I think that Thalia was looking for Jason, not her mother. She made it clear that she wasn't fond of her, so she wouldn't go looking for her.  
**

**To teanotes: I was wondering who would notice the skywalk part. Of course the blue-haired boy was Teddy. Unless the Stolls carried out a prank. And I do plan on working on the HoO series, but only after I've finished Harry's books and all the other books to that series are out. I hate the guessing. It freaks me out when something happens to my favorite characters (Percy's abduction by Hera, Nico kidnapped by Gaea, etc). That plot would come up with the reading. But it will be a while before I focus more on them.  
**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Yeah, I plan to do the HoO series. Wow, that's a lot of books but they are worth the challenge. I'll be done most of them by 2014 at least. (You hear that, so-called 2012 apocalypse, you have to wait!) And yeah, I made Chryses and Phoenix's parentage obvious, but Mika... not so much. In a way, yes, but in another way, no.  
**

**~o~  
**

**Okay so there it is. The nineteenth chapter. Wow, the next would mean big twenty! That is my biggest accomplishment so far! We're nearing the next few chapters and Vena's going to be introduced to the readers soon. How do you think they'll react to her? Review and tell me your thoughts. I even welcome the hate-mail. They make me laugh for some reason.  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	20. A God Buys us Cheeseburgers

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**So I managed to finish this up. And the week isn't even done. That hasn't happened in a long while. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and AFV: America's Home Videos through this chapter.**

**I almost wasn't able to upload because the power went out in my neighborhood, so the computer was in a "coma" for a while. This chapter is quite longish. Be prepared for Apollo's date at the end.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

**A God Buys us Cheeseburgers**

* * *

Ron cleared his throat and sat up. "**Chapter Fifteen: A God Buys us Cheeseburgers**," he read.

"A chapter with food!" Ginny giggled. "Of course Ron would get it."

Ron groaned. "I'm not food-obsessed, Ginny!" he snapped.

"No, he just has a _big_ hearty appetite," Hermione said in agreement.

"So does Thalia," Annabeth said, trying not to smile when Thalia turned to glare at her.

"That's not true!" Thalia disagreed.

Nico laughed. "Are you kidding? You and Percy are the biggest eaters in our group next to the Stolls!"

The daughter of Zeus poked at Nico's stomach and he involuntarily chuckled at the gesture. "Well, I suppose we eat a lot compared to you," she said in a mockingly reasonable voice. "You're skin and bone like your dead subjects."

Nico glared and swatted her hand away. "I don't have that big an appetite these days," he grumbled.

Ginny tutted. "Nico, that isn't healthy," she said.

"You sound like Mum," Ron grumbled. George and Perce smirked at their little sister.

Nico sighed. "Forget about my eating habits, who's the god who buys the three of you cheeseburgers?"

Grover chuckled at Nico's attempt to change the conversation and said, "One you wouldn't expect."

"And that is?"

No answer. Neville sighed. "Ron, could you read now?"

"Sure," Ron said, still miffed at being called food-obsessed.

**The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious.**

"We really did smell," Grover sighed.

"I was dying for a hot shower," Annabeth said with a sigh.

"Me too," Percy said gloomily.

Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione, "At least when we were camping, we could bathe."

"True," Harry said. It was never a hot shower, but at least they were clean.

**"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."**

**"We can't use phones, right?"**

**"I'm not talking about phones."**

"Owls?" Ron asked them, not sure what other means of contact there were for them.

The Greeks looking bemused. "Owls?" Annabeth asked, wondering how her mother's sacred animal would help. "What are you talking about?"

"I'd use an owl with a letter," he said. "Or a Patronus."

That didn't help much. "What?" Nico asked, staring at Ron with a gaping mouth. Ginny couldn't help but laugh at him. She buried her face in Harry's shoulder again and, instead of blushing, Harry grinned at her, only because he was amused by Nico's expression too.

Luna smiled. "I don't think they know about wizards' communications, Ron," she said. "They will probably use something else."

"I would agree with Luna," Perce said, trying not to smile.

"Me too." Hermione and Harry chuckled together.

"Alright then," Ron said, returning to the book without giving the Greeks a proper explanation.

**We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.**

**Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were three adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good.**

"Cop worth his doughnuts?" Ron asked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Cops are another name for policemen, and they are equivalent to aurors," Hermione explained. "Muggles usually say that cops eat doughnuts. A lot."

"Oh." Ron chuckled. "Nice career."

Ginny removed her face from Harry's shoulder. "_Food-obsessed_," she coughed.

Ron glared at her, but a nudge from Hermione kept him from arguing.

**"What exactly are we doing?" I asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.**

**"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"**

**"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."**

**I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.**

**"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."**

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked Grover. "I don't see how this helps with communication."

Ron guffawed.

"What?" Harry asked. Ron lifted the book to Harry's eye to see and when he saw the next line, he groaned.

"What is it?" Thalia asked.

"This," Ron said.

**"What are you talking about?"**

"And I'm sure that wasn't Annabeth," Ron chortled.

"Harry, stop quoting Percy!" Hermione pretended to scold him.

Harry raised his hands defensively and grinned. "I can't help it!"

**He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."**

**"Instant messaging?"**

**"_Iris_-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris**

"You have a goddess of rainbows?" Ron asked in amazement.

"Yes, we do," Conner said. "She's a messenger, like Dad."

"But how does a spray gun help?" Hermione asked.

"Just read, and you'll see," Annabeth said patiently.

**carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."**

**"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"**

**Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."**

"You're making a rainbow?" Ginny asked.

Nico nodded and lifted a finger to his lips to indicate that she stop talking and listened.

**Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.**

**Annabeth held her palm out to me. "Drachma, please."**

**I handed it over.**

**She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."**

**She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.**

**"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.**

**For a moment, nothing happened.**

"I don't get it," Neville said.

"Wait, Neville, hear this," Ron said, reading ahead.

**Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House.**

"Whoa," Neville said. "That sounds so cool!"

"It is," Travis said, grinning.

**Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.**

**"Luke!" I called.**

"Oh all people, it had to be him?" Conner grumbled softly.

**He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow.**

**"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"**

**"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face.**

Annabeth closed her eyes so see wouldn't see who was smirking at her.

"_Aw_, someone's little crush," Thalia teased.

"You had a crush on him too!" Annabeth retorted.

"When I was eleven at the time! And I'm over it!"

"Girls, enough, we're reading," Travis said in his most reasonable voice. The two glared at him but managed to stay silent long enough for Ron to start reading again.

**"We thought — Chiron — I — mean—"**

**"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"**

**"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"**

**Just then a big Lincoln Continental**

"What's—"

"It's a car, Ron," Thalia said before he could finish.

"Oh. That's a strange name for a car."

**pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.**

**"Chiron had to — what's that noise?" Luke yelled.**

**"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight.**

"Will you all stop laughing!" Annabeth exclaimed when the others began sniggering. "It's irritating!"

"_Okay_, okay, we're sorry," Rachel giggled.

**"Grover, come on!"**

**"What?" Grover said. "But—"**

**"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered.**

**Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, then he handed me the spray gun and followed Annabeth.**

Rachel and Annabeth turned to glare at Grover.

"_I'm sorry_?" The apology sounded more like a question.

"What are we going to do with you, Grover?" Rachel sighed.

"Forgive me?"

Annabeth snorted. "Nice try."

"...It was worth a shot."

**I readjusted the hose so I could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke.**

**"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how — probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound.**

"He just called himself a scumbag," Conner whispered to Travis. Travis laughed darkly.

"That was a dumb thing to say," Travis agreed.

**Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."**

**I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side for anything. In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically.**

Annabeth smirked and Grover blushed. Percy looked at the both of them suspiciously. They had never actually told him what they had done to get rid of the mortals.

**"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."**

**I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off.**

**"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt.**

Nico pursed his lips. He had started to come to terms with and forgive Luke's sacrifice and his previous acts, but he was starting to near the most hated list again.

**He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him."**

**"But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly."**

**"That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."**

**We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said.**

"Wait, is he accusing Annabeth?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "She's the only one of them who has an object that can turn her invisible."

"That's low," Travis grumbled.

"Perhaps he was just saying that," Ginny suggested. "He might not have realized that Annabeth would qualify to his words."

"Sure," Conner said. "That was it."

Hermione frowned. "Are you angry with him. Every time he comes up, you grumble."

Conner thought about that really quickly (because the Brits weren't supposed to know about Luke yet) and said, "We don't really get along. He's not by favorite half-brother." Then he thought, '_Anymore_.'

"Oh," Hermione said, accepting his excuse, as did the other wizards.

**"Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."**

**I wondered if Annabeth would like that description.**

"At the time, I don't think so," Travis joked.

"I wish I had my knife," Annabeth grumbled. "I could shut you up with it."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel said, bemused. "You don't have your knife with you?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I looked all over for it, but I don't think it's here."

"That's odd," Nico said. "I have my sword. It's in my room."

"And I have aegis," Thalia said, holding up her wrist. "And my spear canister too." She patted her jacket pocket.

"I have Riptide with me," Percy said, frowning.

"I have my reed pipes," Grover added.

"We have our knives," the Stolls said together, pulling them out for everyone to see. They were identical 15-inch celestial bronze knives with the symbol of a caduceus one side and their initials on the other.

"We have our wands," the Brits muttered together.

"I have a hunting knife Apollo gave me," Rachel said, pulling up one of her jean pants to show a knife strapped to her leg. "He said it a gift from Artemis for taking up the Oracle."

"Am I the _only_ one here who does have a weapon?" Annabeth asked, stunned.

"I guess so," Conner said, feeling awkward.

"That's so not fair!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Why does everyone have their weapon except me?"

"Technically, a wand isn't always a weapon," Neville pointed out, but Annabeth didn't take him on.

"Annabeth, fuming about it isn't going to help anything," Rachel said. "Why don't we wait until we're finished reading to talk about that."

Annabeth looked like she didn't want to agree, but then she sighed and nodded her head in agreement to what Rachel had said.

**In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash.**

"What did you guys do?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth and Grover didn't answer her question. They couldn't ignore the fact that the others looked curious too.

"Percy, what did they do?" Nico asked.

Percy shrugged and said, "They never told me."

Conner gaped. "_Aw, come on!_ What did you guys do?" he asked in a pleading voice. "I want to know!"

"One hint: Grover's hooves," Annabeth said. Grover blushed.

"It was more than hooves, Annabeth, and you know it!" he said, blushing. "I can't believe you made me do that."

Ginny put the pieces together like everyone else and said it aloud before George could. "You took off your pants?" she asked incredulously.

"In my defense, Annabeth made me!" Grover exclaimed, pointing dramatically at her.

After five minutes of none-stop mirthful laughter, everyone managed to settle down. Grover was beet red now, and Annabeth was smirking at him. Grover tried to glare, but then he remembered how funny the guy's reaction had been. That had been the only reason he had forgiven her.

"Okay, can you read now?" he asked Ron.

"Fine." Ron chortled.

**"You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."**

**"Oh ... uh, yeah!" I tried not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've come in handy."**

**"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"**

**The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.**

**"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—"**

"Wait, is Luke talking about Thalia?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, he was," Grover sighed.

"The last thing you needed was to be reminded of that," Hermione said. "Luke isn't being very nice."

"I know," Percy said. '_With good reason_.'

**But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. I was alone in a wet, empty car wash stall.**

**Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw my face. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"**

**"Not much," I lied, my stomach feeling as empty as a Big Three cabin. "Come on, let's find some dinner."**

"When was the last time you have a proper meal?" Ginny asked.

"At camp," Percy, Annabeth, and Grover said glumly.

**A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.**

**Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"**

**I said, "We, um, want to order dinner."**

**"You kids have money to pay for it?"**

**Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum.**

Grover slapped his forehead as they others chuckled at Percy's suggestion.

"That would have been an odd sight," Luna said.

**Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.**

**I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.**

**All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather - but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.**

The Brits looked disgusted at that comparison while the Greeks looked shocked.

"Wait, hold on a second!" Nico said, gaping at Percy in surprise. "The god who _helps_ you is the god you _hate_?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Percy said, nodding. He didn't look very pleased about it either.

"Which god is that?" Harry asked.

"Wait a few paragraphs and you'll see," Grover said, grinning at Percy's disgruntled expression.

**The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen — handsome, I guess, but wicked — with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before.**

"You have?" Luna asked. She didn't remember him in any of the previous chapters.

"More like someone who resembles him," Percy corrected.

"One of his children?" Luna asked. "He seems like a god."

"He is, and yes, one of his children," Annabeth said.

**As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"**

**The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window.**

Annabeth grimaced. "That wasn't pleasant at all."

"Well, he couldn't sit next to us," Grover said, pointing to himself and Percy. "You sat next to the the only available seat at our table."

"I know." Annabeth sighed.

**He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"**

**He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.**

"That was rude," Ginny said, frowning.

"That's because he is rude," Thalia grumbled.

**The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in my stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. I wanted to hit a wall. I wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think he was?**

**He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're Old Seaweed's kid, huh?"**

Percy glared at the book.

"Old Seaweed?" Harry asked. "He means Poseidon?"

"Yep," Percy said shortly.

**I should've been surprised, or scared, but instead I felt like I was looking at my stepdad, Gabe. I wanted to rip this guy's head off. "What's it to you?"**

**Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. "Percy, this is—"**

**The biker raised his hand.**

**"S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"**

**Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five.**

**"You're Clarisse's dad," I said. "Ares, god of war."**

"That's Ares?" Harry asked.

"The one and only," Percy said. "He is my least favorite god."

"You're his least favorite demigod," Thalia pointed out. "You could say that the feeling is mutual."

"He definitely sounds like someone who'd like a good fight," George said. "Good as a 'synonym' for brutal."

"Right on target, George," Rachel said, smiling at him.

**Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."**

**"She was asking for it."**

**"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for - I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."**

**The waitress came back with heaping trays of food — cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.**

**Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.**

"You can't pay with drachmas," Travis said, frowning. "I mean, the gold would be high worth — you can make good money if you know where to go with it — but still. That's godly currency. Doesn't he know that."

"Oh, he knows," Rachel said. "He just doesn't care."

"He'll get in trouble with Dad for that," Thalia pointed out.

"Again, he doesn't care," Percy said in a hard voice before Rachel could repeat herself.

**She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..."**

**Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"**

**The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.**

"He can't do that!" Harry said, looking angry. "Just because he's a god doesn't mean he can through his weight around like—"

"Harry, we get it," Ron said. "Percy says something similar."

Harry grimaced and smacked his forehead. "Why does this keep happening?"

"Because the two of you are a lot alike," Ginny giggled.

**"You can't do that," I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."**

"I think that was the point Harry boy was trying to make," Conner laughed. Harry glared at him and he shut up.

**Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."**

**"What favor could I do for a god?"**

**"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girl friend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."**

**"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"**

**The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.**

**"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it.**

"What is it with gods and wanting to turn people into animals?" Hermione asked, outraged. "First it's Dionysus and the dolphin. Now Ares and a prairie dog? Honestly, what is with that? And why is it always Percy?"

Annabeth laughed. "It's just something they do," she said. "Percy really knows how to tick the gods off."

"Someone needs to make a law against this," Hermione said angrily. Harry and Ron snickered.

Nico nudged Thalia and whispered, "I wonder how she'll react when she learns that Artemis turns boys into jackalopes."

Thalia muffled her laughter and grinned at him. That would be a hilarious outburst right there.

**A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."**

**I wanted to punch this guy, but somehow, I knew he was waiting for that. Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.**

**"We're not interested," I said. "We've already got a quest."**

"At least you remembered that this time," George said, remembering their previous conversation about sightseeing. "But I have a feeling that you still do the task."

"We do," the Greek Trio sighed. It hadn't been fun.

**Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see — blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield.**

Everyone shuddered at those words. Ron's voice stuck in his throat. Bad war memories cropped up in his head, making his pause and giving the others time to think.

Percy could remember seeing his friends die out there. Grover had looked on his horror as nymphs and fellow satyrs died. Thalia had watched hunters, her sister, die around her. Annabeth remembered being horrified by her siblings deaths, as did the Stolls to their own. Rachel and Nico were the least affected, but Nico couldn't help but think of Bianca. The Battles of the Labyrinth and Manhattan were somewhat too fresh in memory.

Remus, Tonks, Dumbledore, Cedric, Sirius, Dobby, Fred, Colin — Harry's currently upbeat attitude wavered for a brief moment. He was used to seeing their deaths in nightmares. He didn't want to think of that now. Neither did any of his friends. The Battle of Hogwarts was a frequent nightmare.

Perce felt George tense beside him and grimaced when he saw the distance look in his eyes: the same look of horror when he saw him bring Fred's body to the Great Hall. He gripped his arm and George took a silent, shaky breath. One sentence and the improved George started to crumble. Ron caught the panicked look on his older brother's face and hurried on reading. Ginny saw it too and resisted getting up to give him a hug.

It was time to stop thinking about that. Only now did a few of them realize how much Percy's story distracted them from their own troubles.

**"I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful ..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."**

Nico growled like a hellhound.

"Whoa, boy calm down," Conner said. "We've established that it wasn't your father!"

"He made the first accusation?" he asked Percy in a cold voice.

Percy nodded. Nico scowled, looking a lot more like his twelve year old self when he still resented Percy for Bianca's death.

**"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"**

**"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."**

**"Thanks," I grumbled.**

**"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."**

**"We're doing fine on our own."**

"Okay, I may not like Ares, but I seriously doubt that," Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't want his help," Percy grumbled.

**"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."**

"I think that got your attention," Ginny said. "Didn't it?"

"Yeah," Percy said, sounding sheepish.

**"My mom?"**

**He grinned. "That got your attention.**

"Oh great, Ginny sounds like Ares," Ron said.

Ginny scowled. "I do not!"

"Whatever," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

**The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."**

"Tunnel of Love ride?" Rachel giggled. "Oh, this is going to be good."

Percy and Annabeth blushed.

**"What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?"**

**Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.**

**"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am.**

"He's only rude because you're there!" Conner complained.

"Conner makes himself a point," George said quietly, trying to focus more on the story without Fred's body coming up in his mind.

**I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."**

**After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise.**

**"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."**

**I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared.**

**Did Ares really know something about my mom, or was he just playing with me? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power — cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think.**

"Like Harry when he's in rage and grief," Hermione said. Harry glared. "Oh, don't give me that look. You know it's true!"

"That doesn't mean you had to point it out!" Harry grumbled.

**"It's probably some kind of trick," I said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."**

**"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."**

Hermione pursed her lips but said nothing.

**I looked down at my cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. "Why does he need us?"**

**"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."**

"So I take it that Athena can beat him in battle?" Travis asked.

"That's right," Annabeth said. "Ares is all violence and force. Athena is tactics and strategy. They're both Greek gods of war, but Athena is the one with a plan. He'll go direct, she'll go with a strategy. You can see where this goes."

Ron nodded. "A good strategy can always win against the direct approach," he said, thinking about her words. "The opponent would rely on direct tactics and look for the best forward approaches to win. A battle can be won before it starts if you have an ideal strategy to work with. You would be able to make the most successful plays and stump the opponent. You can catch them unexpectedly."

Everyone except Harry, Hermione, Ginny, George, and Perce looked shocked by Ron's words. Instead, they grinned at him. Of course he would see it like that. He was a strategist in something that the rest of them weren't very good at.

"Very good," Annabeth said, impressed. "You didn't strike me as the person to say that."

Ron blushed. "I get that a lot," he said sheepishly.

Hermione beamed at him. "Of course Ron would get that," she said, looking at him proudly. "He is our Chess Champion, after all." She could never beat him, after all. It was disgruntling at first, but now it was something that Ron was very proud about, so she couldn't be mad about it anymore.

"The very best in the family," Perce added, the pride in his voice obvious. "Way better than me. He always has a plan when he starts a game."

Ron's ears were as red as his hair. "Guys, stop it," he mumbled, feeling elated and embarrassed all at once.

"You play chess?" Percy asked. Ron nodded. "I'm horrible at it. Annabeth's the best player we have." Annabeth beamed at him.

"True," Rachel said. "Her main competitors are her siblings in the Athena cabin."

"Yeah, and those games get old," Conner said. "They always over-analyze and it takes forever!"

Annabeth glared at him. "That's because you can't play and you let the ADHD take over," she said.

"Well, how about this," Thalia said. "Annabeth is the best chess player in our group. Ron is the best chess player in your group. How about a chess challenge later?"

The two chess players gave it a thought. "Deal," they said confidently.

Percy smiled. "Good luck, Ron," he said. He was sure that Annabeth would win.

Hermione kissed Ron's chin and turned to the Greeks. "Good luck, Annabeth." She knew that Annabeth was smart, but Ron was real competition.

Harry leaned over and whispered to Ginny and Neville, "This is bound to be good."

"I can't play chess," Neville whispered back. "I can't judge, but I know he's good at it."

**"But this water park ... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"**

**Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.**

**Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."**

**The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.**

George chuckled at that along with the Stolls. He was starting to feel better after the chess-playing talk.

**The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.**

**"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," I said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."**

The Greeks groaned.

"Can someone tattoo '_death-wish_' on his forehead?" Rachel asked.

Percy laughed, trying not to feel embarrassed. Aphrodite was one of his better liked goddesses, but he was still worried when it came to her messing with his love-life.

"Why?" Ginny asked. "Who's Ares's girlfriend?"

"You'll find out in a minute," Conner said, trying not to grimace. He had no problem with Aphrodite, just her daughter Drew.

**"Percy," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."**

**"Why? I thought you hated Ares."**

**"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is _very_ temperamental."**

**"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added.**

**"Who is she? Echidna?"**

The Oracle threw her hands up in the air. "Does anyone know where a tattoo parlor is?" Rachel asked in exasperation.

Nico stuffed his fist in his mouth, trying not to cry out with mirth. The best he could do was not make a loud noise, but Thalia and Rachel definitely noticed the shaking boy between them.

"Very funny, Rachel," Annabeth giggled.

**"No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love."**

"Love?" Ginny asked. "What's a love goddess doing with a war god? Wouldn't that a contradict them?"

"Not really," Thalia said. "Love and war are closely tied. Love can cause wars. Wars can be fought for love. People say '_Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus_.' Mars is Ares's Roman counterpart, as is Venus the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite. They are always connected. They attract each other, yet they are opposites."

"Opposites attract," Hermione muttered. Then she smiled at Ron who smiled back sheepishly. "Too true."

Ron was far from offended. He had already accepted that part of their relationship. Even Percy could note that it was there for himself and Annabeth.

**"I thought she was married to somebody," I said. "Hephaestus."**

The Greeks sighed while the Brits looked at each other awkwardly.

"Wait," George said. "Aphrodite's married to Hephaestus but she's dating Ares?"

"Yeah," Travis said.

"Shouldn't the love goddess be faithful in marriage?" Hermione asked, stunned to learn that new fact about the gods.

"No, that's Hera," Rachel said. "She's the goddess of marriage, so she's always faithful to Zeus, despite his unfaithfulness. Aphrodite, on the other hand, is — well — she—"

"Let's just say that she's been in a lot of relationships," Nico said. "I mean, besides Ares, she's been with every other man on the Olympian Council. With Ares, she's had Phobos: god of fear, Deimos: god of terror, Eros: god of love, Anteros: god of requited love, some myths say Pothos is her son too. He's the Erote of yearning and desire. Then there's Harmonia, the immortal goddess of harmony and concord, and Adrestia a goddess who is connected to war, and sometimes shares Nemesis's titles."

"Wow," Conner said. "That's a lot of immortal kids."

Nico nodded, not seeing the looks of shock on the Greeks' faces. "And with Dionysus she had Priapus, the fertility god." Nico shivered. "He did NOT have a pleasant story. _Don't make me say it!_"

"And we know that she also had Tyche and Hermaphroditos with Dad," Conner said, gagging.

"And Rhode with Poseidon," Rachel added. "Lot's of people thought she was the daughter of Amphitrite as well, but it was actually Aphrodite."

Percy choked on his own spit. "Excuse me?" he yelped, heat keeping up his neck.

Rachel shrugged. "It's not that far from a stretch, Percy. Your father's a very handsome man. As well is Hermes. Gods know why she chose Dionysus. She's even been with Apollo."

Percy stuffed his fingers in his ears. "Enough already! We get it! She had a lot of affairs with them, but I don't need the images in my head!" Honestly, he never wanted the image of his dad and Aphrodite ... he gagged again. He definitely didn't need that.

Annabeth ignored him. "Not to mention mortals," she said. "There are more than ten kids in her cabin. I'm betting there are more out there."

"And Hephaestus has kids in his cabin too," Nico pointed out. "But that's mainly because of Aphrodite's neglect. He goes to find women who love him."

"That's sad," Ginny said, getting over her shock.

Grover yanked Percy's hands out of his ears. "Oh grow up! You're sixteen."

"Does that mean I want to hear this?" he snapped waspishly.

"From you emotions, the answer is no," Grover said, shrugging. "Besides, if Nico isn't grossed out, you shouldn't be."

Nico smiled smugly. He had read that about Aphrodite before. His reaction then had been more like Percy's now.

"Yeah, well, he's a million years old!" Percy complained.

Nico glared. "I'm not THAT old!"

Hermione sat up in her seat. "Oh Merlin's pants, I forgot about that!" she said. "I still don't know how old you are!"

"Have you guessed yet?" Nico asked.

"No."

"Then I'm not going to tell you."

Ron groaned loudly. "Can I please continue with the freaking story?" he complained. "You guys can talk about this later!"

Everyone sighed and agreed to stop. However they heard Ron say "And I thought Apollo and Hermes were bad" before continuing. They all had to stifle a smile at his persistence on that topic.

**"What's your point?" he asked.**

**"Oh." I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "So how do we get in?"**

"Your emotions were awkward," Grover pointed out.

"That's because I was uncomfortable with the subject," Percy said.

**"_Maia!_" Grover's shoes sprouted wings.**

**He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"**

"Sure, be right over!" Conner said, mimicking Percy's voice very accurately. "_Maia!_ Oh wait, I don't _have_ flying shoes!"

"I guess I'll go over manually then," Travis added in the same tone.

Grover and Percy laughed hard at that little skit. Percy couldn't deny that that was how he had felt, and Grover knew it. Everyone else grinned at the Stolls' joke.

**Annabeth and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top.**

**The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?**

"That's pathetic," George said. "I could come up with better names than that!"

"You have," Ginny said, smirking. "You remember U-NO-POO?"

"'_The Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!_'" Neville quoted, grinning.

George grinned broadly. "Oh, I remember when I came up with that! It was hilarious!"

The Brits sniggered while the Greeks held back smiles. They had no clue what they were talking about, but it sounded funny.

**No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slightest noise.**

**We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—**

**"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."**

**"Yeah," I said. "But you can't just—"**

**"Watch me."**

**She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room.**

"Annabeth — stealing?" Travis asked in shock. "Did I fall into another universe?"

Annabeth turned red. "For your information, I really needed a fresh change!" she said. "Besides, the park was abandoned! No one was going to miss them!"

"But it's against you morals!" Conner added. "The entire Athena cabin is like that!"

"Goody-two-shoes." Travis nodded.

Annabeth glared. "Don't make me come over there!"

Conner folded his arms defensively. "Or what? We're not afraid of you."

Percy and Thalia cracked their knuckles.

Travis leaned to Conner and said softly, "But I think we're scared of them."

Conner gulped. "How long do you think we'd hold out?"

"Not very long," Travis murmured back. "_Unless_ you—"

Conner's eyes widened. "Heck no! They'd _kill_ me!"

"I could get us to—"

"That wouldn't help for long! They'd come after us!"

"Well, Thalia would. Percy wouldn't."

Conner glared. "I thought you said I wasn't _supposed_ to—"

"I know what I said," Travis grumbled. "But if your life depended on it? What would you do?"

"I won't do THAT!" Conner protested. "She'd hunt me down and kill me!"

"Not if I—" Conner clamped his hand over Travis's mouth and gestured his head towards the others who were staring at them, watching the argument.

Travis looked disgruntled. "Fine, we're sorry." Conner rolled his eyes.

Hermione frowned. "What are you two babbling about?" she asked suspiciously.

The Stolls exchanged nervous glances. "Nothing," they said.

The Brits looked at the Greeks. "What are they talking about?" Ginny asked.

The Greeks looked equally confused. "I have no clue," Nico said. The others answered the same way.

"We're not going to talk about it," Travis said. "It's not big deal."

They looked at the Stolls suspiciously. Hermione looked like she was going to ask another question when Luna said, "They don't want to talk about, Hermione. Maybe you should let them be."

Everyone looked surprised at Luna's defense of the Stolls. She smiled at the brothers and they smiled back at her. The others decided to let it go — for now.

"What do you think is up with the Stolls?" Thalia whispered to Grover and Nico.

"No clue," they said.

**A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.**

**"What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of us were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.**

**We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love.**

**I got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath. "So Ares and Aphrodite," I said, to keep my mind off the growing dark, "they have a thing going?"**

**"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told me. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip."**

**"What about Aphrodite's husband?"**

**"Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The black smith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus.**

"It wasn't Zeus, it was Hera," Thalia corrected her.

"I know that now, but not then," Annabeth said, shrugging.

"Why would she do that?" Harry asked, shocked.

"He didn't look the part of her 'Perfect Family' plan," Annabeth said angrily.

"She's definitely doesn't make Mother of the Year," Nico said

"No, she wouldn't," Percy agreed. "Mother of the year would be my Mom."

"Too true," Thalia agreed.

**So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"**

"I don't think she's that shallow, is she?" Rachel asked.

"None of us know her that well," Annabeth said slowly. "So, we wouldn't know. All we would know is her reputation."

"And it's not that favorable," Nico added.

Rachel frowned. She sent out a mental message to Vena. Maybe she could explain it later.

**"She likes bikers."**

**"Whatever."**

**"Hephaestus knows?"**

**"Oh sure," Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them.**

"That sounds a little mean," Neville pointed out.

"Dude, she's having an affair with his brother," Nico said. "Which do you think is worse?"

Neville considered his words. "Point taken."

**That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ..."**

**She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that."**

**In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.**

**Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!**

**Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look."**

**Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.**

**"This is too easy," I said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"**

"That was so not easy," Percy grumbled.

"It sounds easy," Thalia objected.

"Yeah, it SOUNDS easy," Annabeth said, shivering. She wasn't up for everyone knowing her fear of spiders.

**Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.**

**"There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."**

"Eta?" Conner asked, confused. "Isn't that Greek for H?"

Annabeth groaned. "How did _he_ see it first and not me?" she complained.

"H?" Thalia asked. Then she groaned. "Let me guess. It has something to do with Hephaestus?"

Annabeth closed her eyes and nodded. "I should have seen it sooner."

"We don't blame you," Grover said. "It was the last thing we expected."

Percy nodded with agreement, and to pull Annabeth out of her thoughts, gave her a light kiss on the lips. It worked, like it always had before.

**"Grover," I said, "you smell any monsters?"**

**He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."**

**"Nothing — like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?"**

**Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground."**

**"Okay, I'm sorry." I took a deep breath. "I'm going down there."**

**"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feeling he was trying to make up for what had happened in St. Louis.**

**"No," I told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong."**

**Grover puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"**

"I think I jinxed it," Grover said, sighing.

"No, we just underestimated the assignment," Percy corrected.

**"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me—"**

**"Are you kidding?" She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red.**

**"What's the problem now?" I demanded.**

**"Me, go with you to the ... the '_Thrill Ride of Love_'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"**

"Who would see you?" Harry and Ginny asked in unison. Then they stared at each other in surprise.

"Wow," Ron chortled. Then he read:

**"Who's going to see you?" But my face was burning now, too. Leave it to a girl to make everything complicated.**

All the girls turned to glare at Percy. He sank into his seat in abasement.

"Well, he's not wrong," Conner said. The glares turned to him. He flinched and looked away.

The other guys took that as a sign not to say anything. There may have been more guys than girls here, but some of those girls could really fight and win.

**"Fine," I told her. "I'll do it myself." But when I started down the side of the pool, she followed me, muttering about how boys always messed things up.**

"Too true," Thalia said.

Nico spluttered. "Oi! Why can you say bad things about us and it can't be vice versa? That's _not_ fair."

Thalia gave Nico a death glare. Flecks of electricity sparked around her iris. Nico, a little miffed, gave her his special death glare and she flinched. The veins around his eyes had darkened slightly, and his pupils widened with venom.

"_Damn_, you're good at that," she muttered, sulking that she had lost.

"Hmph," Nico huffed. He didn't look smug, just disgruntled; it was probably with the unfairness deal.

**We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of gods meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why? Then I noticed something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That must be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other they could look at their favorite people: themselves.**

**I picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable — rose, or mountain laurel. Something good. I smiled, a little dreamy, and was about to rub the scarf against my cheek when Annabeth ripped it out of my hand and stuffed it in her pocket. "Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic."**

Ron shuddered. "Don't talk to me about love magic!" he said, holding the book a little farther from himself as though he had just offered him some. "No way!"

The Greeks looked surprised by his outburst. Then they saw the grim expressions of the other group's faces and realized that something bad had happened to Ron once.

Harry winced, remembering what happened on Ron's birthday. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "I should have gotten rid of it earlier."

"It's not your fault," Ron said, patting his shoulder. "But between you and me, one of the worst birthdays ever!"

**"What?"**

**"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."**

**The moment I touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble. My hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A cobweb, I thought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire.**

"Damn!" the Stolls groaned. "A Hephaestus trap!"

"His kids do that to us every now and then," Conner said gloomily.

"They have traps almost everywhere around their cabin," Travis grumbled.

"Well, their father had a bigger trap," Grover sighed. It hadn't been fun in there. Not at all.

**"Wait," Annabeth said.**

**"Too late."**

**"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap."**

**Noise erupted all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine.**

**Grover yelled, "Guys!"**

**Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.**

**"We have to get out," I said.**

**"Duh!" Annabeth said.**

**I grabbed the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.**

**"Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.**

"I almost got stuck in it," Grover said meekly.

"Well, it was made to trap you," Neville said. "Um, not _you_, but—"

"Ares and Aphrodite, I know."

**The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cam eras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "_Live to Olympus in one minute... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight..._"**

"And he video-taped it?" Travis asked in an excited state. "Oh, that is SO cool!"

"Not cool," Annabeth protested. "We didn't sign up to be entertainment for the gods!"

"I wonder how they reacted," Nico mused.

Suddenly, a small burst of pain shot through his eyes and an image of a hotel room came up clear in his mind's eye. He could remember watching a television with two kids screaming in a water ride. He gasped aloud. It was a memory from his stay in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Nico rubbed his eyes, wincing.

"Nico, what's wrong?" Luna asked.

Nico sat frozen in his seat, trying to get the pain to ease, which it did gradually. He yearned for a small dose of his tonic to get rid of it. "I-I remember something," he said. "I don't know, it's old memory. They've never stung that much before."

Rachel patted his back. She had heard of Nico's struggles to regain his old memories. "What is it? What do you remember?"

"Years ago," he said. "Before I met you guys." He opened his eyes and blinked in the light. "I-I think I saw something like that on television."

"You mean at that _special place_?" Annabeth asked, meaning the Lotus Hotel.

Nico nodded slowly, trying not to get dizzy. "Yeah. And I was switching through the channels and I saw this one episode of —" Nico frowned. "I don't remember the name. But it had something like that, except there was water. There were these two kids screaming as they were chased by metal spi—"

"Was the channel called _Hephaestus TV_?" Thalia asked. She knew of the Lotus Hotel and it was connected to Greek Myths. Nico had to be in the Casino during that, but the channel could be up-to-date on the world.

Nico shrugged. "I don't remember," he said. "I don't even know what the show was called. I just remembered there being these two kids on a boat on running water and when they jumped, they were caught by some flying person—"

"Yeah, it was _Hephaestus TV_," Percy said glumly. What a coincidence for Nico to see that...

The pain eased. Nico hid a smile. "That was you?" he asked before he began to cackle with mirth. "Oh man, that was hilarious!"

"Was not!"

"I'm reading, if anyone cares to know," Ron grumbled. "I don't care about a veletision."

"_Television_, Ron," Hermione corrected him.

"Whichever!"

**"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid. Eta is H. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"**

**We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic ... things poured out.**

**Annabeth screamed.**

**It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.**

Ron shuddered lightly at the next word.

**"_Spiders!_" Annabeth said. "Sp — sp — _aaaah!_"**

"You're scared of spiders?" Nico asked, surprised. His vision was slightly unfocused by the recent memory attack, but he was able to focus his sight on her.

"Yeah," Annabeth said, embarrassed.

Ginny laughed, not in amusement, but in surprise. "You're kidding," she said in disbelief. When Annabeth shook her head, Ginny said, "So is Ron!"

George smiled weakly. "Yeah, look at him," he said. "He's shaking."

"Am not!" Ron protested, but it was obvious that he looked squeamish. "I just don't like spiders!"

"Ron, when a spider shows up, you turn paler than Nico over there," Harry said, pointing at the son of Hades. "Do you remember what happend in Second Year?"

Ron shuddered openly now. "Oh, don't you remind of that!" he said, his voice getting higher. "I still have nightmares!"

Hermione sighed and patted his arm. "It's okay, Ron, there are no spiders here," she said reassuringly. "Especially giant ones." She decided not to add, '_I think_' because she was sure he'd panic.

"There better not be!" Ron and Annabeth said, the both of them looking clammy.

Neville looked surprised. "Wow, first chess, now spiders," he said softly, shaking his head. "What next?"

**I'd never seen her like this before. She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her back toward the boat.**

**The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make us look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And we weren't gods.**

**Annabeth and I climbed into the boat. I started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard. I yelled at Annabeth to help me, but she was too paralyzed to do much more than scream.**

"Don't worry, Ron would do the same thing," Ginny said reassuringly to Annabeth.

Ron didn't even bother to glare. He knew that Ginny was right; he would panic at being close to spiders, even metal ones. He looked at Annabeth and nodded. She smiled gratefully at him. At least she wasn't alone, besides her siblings.

Hermione and Percy couldn't help but exchange amused glances.

**"_Thirty, twenty-nine_," called the loudspeaker.**

**The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. I kicked one away from Annabeth's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe.**

**Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge.**

**_Think_, I told myself. _Think_.**

**The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.**

Ron and Annabeth fidgeted at the supposed number.

**"_Fifteen, fourteen_," the loudspeaker called.**

**Water, I thought. Where does the ride's water come from?**

**Then I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowed booth that must be the controller's station.**

**"Grover!" I yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"**

**"But—"**

**"_Do it!_" It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I had to get us out of there.**

Annabeth groaned. "I was useless!"

"You were scared," Percy said. "It's okay, Annabeth. We got out. Don't beat yourself up."

Annabeth sighed and buried her head in his chest.

**Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.**

**"_Five, four—_"**

**Grover looked up at me hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting me know that he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening.**

**I closed my eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. I felt a familiar tug in my gut. I tried to imagine that I was dragging the ocean all the way to Denver.**

**"_Two, one, zero!_"**

**Water exploded out of the pipes.**

Everyone sighed with relief at those words.

**It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.**

Nico snickered. He remember how much he had laughed at that. Of course, he thought it was just regular television stuff.

"Stop laughing, Nico!" Percy snapped

Nico stopped laughing, but not grinning. He was glad he had been in his room that day. Otherwise, he would have missed it, even if he hadn't understood what was really going on. Then he started to wonder why the memory came up then and he frowned. _Why DID that memory come up now?_

**The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst.**

**Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.**

**But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. Maybe it was my imagination, but the boat seemed to respond. At least, it didn't break into a million pieces. We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness.**

**Annabeth and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff.**

**Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit.**

**If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade - one submerged, the other cracked in half.**

**"Unfasten your seat belt," I yelled to Annabeth.**

**"Are you crazy?"**

"Sort of," Percy said, smiling meekly. Everyone cackled at him and he joined in.

**"Unless you want to get smashed to death." I strapped Ares's shield to my arm. "We're going to have to jump for it." My idea was simple and insane. As the boat struck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool.**

**Annabeth seemed to understand. She gripped my hand as the gates got closer.**

**"On my mark," I said.**

**"No! On my mark!"**

**"_What?_"**

**"Simple physics!" she yelled. "Force times the trajectory angle—"**

**"Fine.'" I shouted. "On your mark!"**

"You didn't want to hear physics, or you didn't want to argue?" Hermione asked.

"Both," Percy said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him.

**She hesitated ... hesitated ... then yelled, "_Now!_"**

_**Crack!**_

**Annabeth was right. If we'd jumped when I thought we should've, we would've crashed into the gates. She got us maximum lift. Unfortunately, that was a little more than we needed. Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid asphalt.**

"Not good." Rachel winced.

**Something grabbed me from behind.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Ouch!"**

**_Grover!_**

**In midair, he had grabbed me by the shirt, and Annabeth by the arm, and was trying to pull us out of a crash landing, but Annabeth and I had all the momentum.**

**"You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!"**

**We spiraled toward the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall.**

Thank you for that," Annabeth said, smiling gratefully at Grover. "I'd hate to die at twelve years."

"Then why did you go on a quest to the Underworld?" Nico asked. She didn't answer.

**We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Annabeth and I tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shield was still on my arm.**

**Once we caught our breath, Annabeth and I got Grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving our lives. I looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love. The water was subsiding. Our boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates.**

**A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces.**

"Seriously?" Travis snickered. "Give the kids a break, will you?"

**"Show's over!" I yelled. "Thank you! Good night!"**

**The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good.**

Everyone was amused by that.

"Really, Percy, you're worried about the ratings?" Thalia giggled.

"I give it two thumbs up!" Nico added, grinning.

There came more laughter after that.

**I hated being teased.**

**I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experience handling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. I hefted the shield on my arm and turned to my friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."**

"I'm done," Ron said. "At last! Why couldn't that chapter be short by Harry's?"

"I don't know," Rachel said. "Who's next?"

"Me!" Hermione said, taking her book from them. She read the title and looked at the Greek Trio in surprise. "You three went to Las Vegas?"

Nico paled at her words. Las Vegas? He hoped it wasn't to the Lotus Hotel and Casino...

* * *

**_In Paris, France..._**

Apollo walked hand-in-hand with Anastasie Pelletier down a quaint little street towards the Eiffel Tower. Apollo thought she was very pretty. She had long lush blond hair, smooth fair skin with a splash of freckles across her nose, and wide, doe-like blue eyes. She spoke in a sweet tinkering voice, but she only spoke French, not English. Of course, being the god of knowledge made him closer to Athena in terms of knowing different facts and languages.

"_It is a beautiful day, don't you think?_" she asked in sweet voice.

"_One of the loveliest I've seen so far_," he replied in smooth velvety French. "_Of course, it is not as lovely as you_."

Anastasie blushed and giggled at Apollo's sweet-talk. He gave her another charming smile and pulled her a little closer to him. She smiled sweetly and wrapped her arms around his muscular one. Apollo noticed a few girls looking at them jealously. When Anastasie wasn't looking he threw a swift glance over his shoulder and winked at the group of girls who immediately started giggling and whispering to each other. Of course, Apollo and Anastasie walked around the corner at that very moment, so he didn't see them again.

Apollo ran his hand through his hair and kept his charming smile on his face. Despite the fact that he was walking with a beautiful mortal girl, Apollo's thoughts couldn't help but think of that immortal beauty back on Star. The sight of Vena looking so solemn and unfeeling disturbed him. It wasn't the first time that he had seen her that way, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. He wondered if she was still overlooking the readers or had gone on to do her day duties. He was sure she knew where he was and what he was thinking.

He still found that unfair. She knew every thought that went on, not just in his head, but everyone else in this world. He had to give her credit for keeping her sanity from all the thoughts that ran through her head. She was the only person who could really get away with hearing voices. With her, that didn't sound crazy at all.

"_Paul, are you alright?_" Anastasie asked with concern.

'Paul' turned to look down at her. "_Of course I am_," he said. "_I was just thinking_."

"_About?_"

Apollo pretended to think more. "_About where I will take you for dinner on Friday_," he lied smoothly with a small smirk. Wasn't that ironic for the god of truth?

Well, at least Anastasie bought it. She hadn't minded that he was late. It was only five minutes and she accepted the excuse of not being able to locate the café properly to be his reasons. The two kept walking and talking about whatever interested Anastasie. Apollo couldn't exactly tell her he was a god, after all. He decided on the the usual back-story he'd used on other girls and the mortal wouldn't know the difference.

Eventually they came to _Champ de Mars_, translation: the Field of Mars. They had a good view of the Eiffel Tower from here. They stopped by a long pool. Or was it fountain? To Apollo, it looked like both.

Many people walked passed. You could tell who the tourists were; they were the ones who looked like they didn't know where to go. There were a few buses by the side of the road. Apollo was amused to see that the trees leading up to the Eiffel Tower were trimmed like smooth hedges. He knew Artemis would grumble at it. It was so unnatural.

While Anastasie paused their date to answer her cellphone, Apollo remembered how it had been to look at the Eiffel Tower in the 1920 all those many years ago.

It had been a _small_ party for Aphrodite, so of course it had been full out _huge_. At least the mortals never saw it, thank the gods and the Mist.

Apollo remembered seeing Artemis and Zoë surveying the Tower together, speaking rapidly in Greek. Poseidon hadn't really cared at all, but Athena kept going on about its structure and boring most of the other gods within hearing distance to death. That reminded him how resentful Thanatos had been when Hades had dragged him to that party, but Apollo had to remember that Persephone had dragged Hades there in the first place.

He could remember walking under the night sky with the others, following Aphrodite who had chattered excitedly away in French about being in such a wonderful city. Apollo had been close to falling asleep on himself when suddenly a long, slender gloved arm of a young woman had laced itself up with his.

"Hey _gorgeous_, mind keeping a girl some company?" she had asked in a teasing voice.

Apollo had looked down at her, about to say no, when he realized it was the daughter of Chaos herself. Her curly auburn-gold hair had been styled up in a neat French braid with two curls dangling at one side, held down with a pretty black headband with a perfect black red rose. Her galaxy eyes had been framed by thick black lashes and her lips had been painted blood red, so full and perfect that he had wanted to kiss her right then.

She had worn a simple red satin dress that fell to her knees, black stockings and red pumps, lacy black gloves that had gone up to her elbows and three pearl necklaces around her neck, complete with a black fur coat. Apollo had felt hideous in his cream and white suit.

"Mademoiselle Venaurora," he had crooned in a soft voice. He had stopped walking immediately to kiss her hand. "It would be a pleasure, my lady."

The smile he had received had been so heartwarming that he had not fallen asleep in himself as he had expected. Spending time in her company had woken his senses. That night had been pleasurable, all with the laughing and partying and dancing under the stars.

Standing here in the modern day, Apollo's thought were far into that night. It had been wonderful. Then he sighed. He couldn't really go anywhere without thinking about Vena, could he? Not that they had been _everywhere_ together, but her recent return to his life and brought up all those memories. He couldn't enjoy one date without being reminded of her.

'_I hate this_,' he thought to himself. '_She won't _be_ with me, yet she's _always_ with me_.'

Apollo was nudged out of his thoughts again by Anastasie's interruption. She wanted go buy some ice cream. It didn't sound like a bad idea so he agreed and they decided to walk towards a vendor. He was determined not to think of Vena anymore. It only seemed to confuse him.

However, that determination was short-lived. Not long afterwards, right before they got to the ice cream vendor, a pigeon swooped out of nowhere and emptied its bowels on his pants.

"_Ah!_" Apollo yelped, stumbling away from Anastasie in shock. "What the—!"

A soft laugh echoed in the back of his head and he cursed in Greek. Vena. Vena had to be behind that little incident. What did he do to deserve that? Was she _still_ mad at him? Or did she dislike the fact that he had been thinking about her in the 1920's. He recalled it was one of her favorite decades to live in, but not her favorite fashion decade. She had _hated_ wearing those headbands and fur coats.

Well, whatever it was left him with ruined pants. How it got on his pants and not on his shirt was a mystery to him. Maybe Vena wasn't so cruel as to ruin one of his best shirts. It was silk, after all.

"_Oh my goodness! Paul, what happened?_" Anastasie asked, bewildered at why he suddenly backed away from her.

He didn't answer immediately. '_What do you think, a pigeon pooped on me because of my crazy crush_,' Apollo thought to himself. "_Pigeons hate me_," he said, indicating to his pants.

"_Oh_,_ ew_," Anastasie said. "_My apartment's not far from here. You can use the washing machine there_."

"_Thank you_," Apollo said.

Embarrassed, he followed her away from the scene. He could use his powers to clean his pants, but then Anastasie would know something was up with him. He might has well act mortal about it and use the washing machine. In Anastasie's apartment. And wash his pants while — what? He wouldn't be wearing his pants...

He just hoped Vena didn't send anymore pigeons after him now.

* * *

**So there! That is the 20th chapter! Yay me! [Oh gods, London Tipton quote!]**

**I decided to add Apollo's date because honestly, I really wanted to see his reaction to the pigeon. I thought that was funny. I hope I wasn't too inaccurate with the fashion sense of the 1920s. I only had the The Vampire Diaries, Season Three, Episode 'The End of the Affair' for inspiration on that matter. I don't know if anyone else watches TVD (It's my favorite show next to Once Upon A Time) but Stefan and Caroline are my favorite characters (and not as a couple!)**

**~o~  
**

**To Sakra: Thanks for that. I'd give out cookies too, but honestly, it's empty words unless you know the person in real life. I told my cousin once that I gave him cake over the computer. He demanded cake from me the next day. And he didn't bother to say Happy Birthday. Just "Where's my cake?"**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: I know! She's really amazing! I love so many of her songs, they are wonderful.**

**To teanotes: Yeah, I crack up whenever I read that too. As for Iris's twin sister, yeah, that's true. I didn't make it up. I looked it up and it said that she betrayed the gods and went to serve as the Titan's messenger. When the gods won, Zeus took away her wings and threw her into Tartarus with the other Titans. Oh, and I'm not sure about the HP next generation yet. I haven't planned what they are going to be like yet, so they aren't coming in. I don't want to keep guessing all the time. But I know that new readers will come in before I get to Harry's books.**

**To Hayley Granger: I would agree with you there. They didn't need anymore trouble, yet they still got trouble in this chapter. And when I read what you wrote for Vena and Apollo, I couldn't help sing it. No one heard me, but it was still fun.**

**To NagasMythReality: Yes, I do plan on bringing other readers. As for Chaos being male, I looked that up before I added it. One source said that Chaos was genderless and sometimes poetically female. My story goes with the genderless feature. I'll explain more of that in the story. That's for later.**

**To baritonegirl: I love the statue reference too. I couldn't bring up Iris and not the statue. And you don't have to apologize for saying Rick signed your book. I wish I could get an autograph one day.**

**To lunalovegood0628: I didn't know there was a Ms. Wesley in the HP books. Oh, did you mean Molly or Ginny? The comment wasn't that clear on it, so I'm guessing. You meant Chamber of Secrets, right? Well, I don't remember any of Mrs. Weasley (well, I think you meant her anyways) by heart, but I know that the most used lines by her from that movie was from the Howler that Ron received for taking the flying car to Hogwarts, and how Mr. Weasley had an inquiry and all of that: "RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! YOUR FATHER IS FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT!" After that, I'm stumped on direct quote, but I know that she said if he stepped out of line again he would be withdrawn from Hogwarts. And that she was proud of Ginny making it to Gryffindor. It's funny how people like to parody that. If it wasn't the one you meant, I can't remember anything else, sorry. The only most used quote from her I know from her (by heart, I mean) is "Not my daughter you *****!"—(I didn't feel like putting in that word). And that was from HP & DH, part 2. Oh, and I rarely eat cheesecake. It's a real delicacy for me, so it's just vanilla with cherries. Yeah.**

**To Steven3270: Well, seeing that I'm going to do the HoO books, I think that Thalia will find out her brother is alive. As for bringing in the Romans to read, still debating on it.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Yeah, I've read it three times. I even favorited a youtube video of him reading the first half of it.**

**To Jonathan: Thanks for commenting on almost every chapter. My inbox was a real surprise this morning. I'm just answering a few points from each review here. Firstly, I realize that neither George nor Percy are part of the inner circle for the Trio, but I couldn't resist adding them. Especially since I thought it would be good for George's character. For the cover of the books for Harry, I'm sticking to the British one, because I'm not that familiar with the America. I have most of the books in British form, and the ones I don't, I'll simply research them. I would agree that it would be cool for the wizards to use the more modern technology, but if Arthur Weasley were there for it, gods help us! At some point in the story, I'm explain more about the tonic, but not immediately. Vena has a purpose to the story. It doesn't seem major just yet, but she comes in at certain points that will be focused on later. Lots of people have asked me if I'm bringing in more characters, and I've said yes. But later. If someone asks again, I'm not answering it. I've said it enough times. And I don't think I'm going to drop them in at random either. I'm still planning it. I will have to wait for Harry's books to settle any more information on Nicolas Flamel's part in his books. The ending of the series isn't all set yet, but I'm keeping it to myself for now. And as to Ginny referring to Snape as a murderer, I don't exactly remember. I think she might of either meant Snape, the Carrows, or Crouch. I think I was referring to the Carrows more. I'm not entire sure. I have to look back on that and check. As for flashbacks, look out for the next chapter. Nico has one. (Wow, that was a really big reply there).  
**

**~o~  
**

**Between you and me, I feel a little sorry for Apollo. He really does love Vena, but the woman wouldn't give him a chance. Why do you think that is? Review and share your thoughts. Don't be shy. :)  
**

**So that's all for now. See you later.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	21. We Take a Zebra to Vegas

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Percy Jackson series or the Harry Potter series.**

**Update note to you all: the next chapter after this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a reading. I thought I'd give you a heads up on it, so that you would be prepared not to read the book side of the story. It won't we overly long either, but after you finish reading this one, you'll see why. Oh, and look out for a George of the Jungle reference. I couldn't resist. Oh, and this is the longest chapter I've written, ever.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One**

**We Take a Zebra to Vegas**

* * *

"_Vegas?_" Thalia laughed. "Wait, _what?_"

"That's what the chapter title says," Hermione said, shrugging. "**We Take a Zebra to Vegas**."

"A Zebra?" Harry asked skeptically. "You're surprised they're going to _Vegas_, but not that they have a _zebra_?"

Ron snorted with laughter.

Hermione glared. "Very funny, Harry," she said.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover glanced over at Nico, who was now frozen in his seat. Thalia soon joined them, having remembered that the di Angelo siblings had been stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Nico stared at the book, and then looked at Percy.

'_Please tell me you didn't go THERE_,' he mouthed, meaning the Casino.

Percy grimaced. '_I'm sorry, Nico, but we did_.'

Nico turned paper white and, without warning, curled up into a ball on the couch, not out of fear, but out of bewilderment. Rachel nearly jumped out of her seat at the action. The Brits looked surprised and confused.

"Nico, are you okay?" Luna asked in concern.

"I don't know," Nico's muffled voice answered. "I feel sick."

Thalia sighed. "Nico, sit properly." Nico gave her what she supposed was a shake of the head. She got up and went to the near abandoned dining cart and loaded up a few pepperoni sandwiches on a plate and nudged Nico. "You should eat something."

Nico raised his head and gave her a disgruntled look. "I'm not hungry."

"No, but you're flesh and bone," she said. "Perhaps you wouldn't get sick if you ate something."

But her eyes said differently: '_Just munch on this during the chapter. It'll be over soon_.'

Unfortunately for Nico, his traitorous stomach rumbled at the smell of food. He sighed and accepted the plate grudgingly. "Thanks."

Hermione frowned. She hadn't seen that reaction from him. Why did he pale when she mentioned Las Vegas? She couldn't ask him when she was that half of the other group looked too worried about him, so she started to read.

**The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.**

**"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."**

**"You knew it was a trap," I said.**

**Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."**

Nico managed to smirk at that. At least it didn't start with him in Vegas.

**I shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk."**

**Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.**

**Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.**

**"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."**

Nico tried not to groan but failed. Hermione looked up.

"Okay, what's wrong with Las Vegas for you?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Let's say I have no love for that place," Nico said bitterly. Hermione sighed and returned to the book.

**The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.**

**I said, "You're kidding."**

**Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."**

**He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos.**

**I said, "I don't want your lousy—"**

**"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."**

"It really wouldn't have been good to deny the offer," Grover said. "I mean, Ares isn't really one of the nice gods."

"I know that," Percy said. "I just didn't want anything he gave me."

**I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, I slung the backpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was being caused by the war god's presence, but I was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded me of every bully I'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers - every jerk who'd called me stupid in school or laughed at me when I'd gotten expelled.**

"And Malfoy," Ron mattered.

Hermione smiled. "Ron, not now."

**I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us.**

Everyone groaned simultaneously.

**_Great_, I thought. _We'll make the papers again tomorrow_.**

**I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.**

Now they laughed.

"I'd pay money to see that!" Travis chortled.

Annabeth smiled at Percy and whispered, "He should have been on the beach then."

Percy grinned back at her.

**"You owe me one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."**

**"You sure you can handle the news?" He kickstarted his motorcycle. "She's not dead."**

"That's good," Harry said, smiling grimly.

**The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?"**

**"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."**

**"Kept. Why?"**

**"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."**

Harry's smile slid off his face and he glanced at Ginny immediately. She was looking right back at him, her face blank but her eyes fierce as though she were daring him to speak. What Ares said reminded him exactly why he had broken up with her in the first place. He didn't want her used against him by Voldemort. He — he ... he loved her too much for that. Wait a minute. Did he just say _love?_

He felt someone shaking his shoulder and Ron's voice said, "Harry? Mate, you there?"

"_Huh?_" Harry blinked his eyes and turned back to the others. "What happened?"

"You blanked out," Rachel said, looking between him and Ginny suspiciously. "Are you okay?"

Harry swallowed hard. "I'm fine." He saw the skeptical books. "No, really. I'm fine."

It was obvious that no one believed him. Ginny focused her eyes on him. She knew that stare he had given her very well. She had to talk to him soon. She knew something was going on with him.

**"Nobody's controlling me."**

**He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."**

**I balled up my fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."**

"Are you looking to get killed?" Rachel asked.

Percy didn't answer.

**Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."**

**He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.**

**Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."**

**"I don't care."**

"You never care," Annabeth groaned.

"I care!" Percy protested. "I just don't care about him!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."**

**"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..."**

**He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.**

Grover's face contorted with anger. That place was far from kind.

**"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."**

**I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver.**

**We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us.**

**The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.**

"Eww!" Rachel, Ginny, and Thalia said, gagging.

"How long did you guys have to stay in that?" Travis asked, grimacing in disgusted.

"A few hours, I guess," Annabeth replied.

Conner gagged at her. Then he leaned towards Travis and whispered, "You know, maybe you should have gone with them."

"And get myself killed? Hades, no!" Travis whispered back. "_It_ would have taken _forever!_"

Luna overheard him and wondered what he was talking about.

**The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for.**

**Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read _OVER THE HILL!_**

"Why would someone do that to those poor creatures?" Luna asked, looking uncharacteristically furious.

"Because those humans were doing this illegally and they didn't care," Grover replied, equally as upset. "Those animals were suffering back there."

Harry grimaced. "Well, it explains the zebra part of the title," he said. "I suppose you three did something to help those creatures."

"Of course we did!" Annabeth said. "We weren't going to leave them there."

Percy nodded. "We couldn't do anything immediately since we needed the ride, but at the first stop in Vegas, we helped them," he said. "And hopefully got those people arrested."

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Read and you'll see," Grover said.

**Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.**

**"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"**

"I wanted to give those humans a piece of my mind," Grover grumbled. "And reed pipes."

"I don't blame you," Ron said, looking disgusted by the way the animals were treated. That's sort of like how purebloods viewed bloodtraitors and muggleborns. Like they were filth, so they treated them that way too.

**He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and I would've helped him, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down.**

**We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips.**

"Why didn't you think of that first, Annabeth?" Ginny asked.

"I was so mad at their treatment that I forgot to consider it," Annabeth said meekly.

**I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. I gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night.**

**Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time.**

**On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it — he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment.**

Everyone chuckled as Percy and Annabeth pouted at that.

**But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods.**

**"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."**

**"That's okay."**

**"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."**

Ron and Annabeth twitched in their seats.

**"Because of the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"**

**Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."**

"That sounds terrible!" Ron exclaimed, gaping at Annabeth in horror. "They actually LOOK for you?"

Annabeth shiver. "Yeah."

Ron gulped. "I'm glad I'm not a child of Athena," he muttered. Then he jabbed his finger at Ginny and George and said, "And don't bring my brain into this! Don't think I didn't know you were thinking that!"

They held up their hands defensively.

**"We're a team, remember?" I said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."**

**I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"**

**Annabeth and I laughed.**

**She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. "In the Iris message ... did Luke really say nothing?"**

**I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."**

Grover and Thalia sighed.

**In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions.**

**Grover let out a mournful bray.**

**"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."**

**"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."**

**He nodded glumly.**

**"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp ..." I looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"**

"You were?" Hermione asked. She thought back to before and realized that Thalia and Grover had never directly said anything about Annabeth's and Luke's involvement.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Thalia and Luke were already together when they found me in an alley. They took me in and took care of me."

Thalia nodded. "I ran away from home when I was ten. I'm not going to go into the details, but when I came across Luke, we teamed up." She sighed and looked out the windows; she could see a blue and green sky out there. "We made a good pair, so we stuck together. That's how it was for a long time. Then we came to an alley that housed a daughter of Athena. Annabeth was another mouth to feed, but we couldn't just leave her alone. She had potential, and she was really sweet."

Annabeth blushed at the compliment.

"We made out okay," Thalia continued. "There was no planning ahead. Our lives were unpredictable, so we winged everything. Then Grover came along, and that's when it all changed."

"What happened?" Ginny asked. "Well, I know how it ended, but — still."

"I explained it to Percy," Annabeth said. "Hermione, could you read it?"

"Sure," Hermione said, nodding.

**She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were ... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."**

**"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..."**

**"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."**

**"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."**

"Who's this Council, I'd like to talk with them," Harry said angrily.

Ron leaned away. "Now Angry-Harry, we can't deal with that now," he said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not THAT bad, Ron."

"Actually, you are," Hermione said. "If you unleash that fury on the devil, he _himself_ will run."

Harry glared while everyone laughed at his expression.

**"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" I said. "That's not fair."**

**"Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."**

**Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."**

**"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."**

**She kicked me in the shin.**

**"Yeah," I said, which I would've done even without the kick.**

Annabeth blushed. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Percy said.

**"It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."**

**I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep.**

There were a few snickers here and there.

"Sorry about that," Grover said sheepishly. "I was tired."

"I know." Percy sighed. "So was I."

**"How does he do that?" I marveled.**

**"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him."**

**"I meant it."**

**We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully.**

"Was he looking for more meat, or did he just want to eat you?" Conner asked.

"Seeing that the lion is a carnivore, what's the difference?" Travis asked him skeptically.

Conner blushed. "Never mind."

**Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.**

**"That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?"**

**She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.**

**"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire,**

"Why was it on fire?" Luna asked. "Isn't a trireme a boat?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The Hephaestus cabin made it for the 4th of July so they could go out on the lake and set off the fireworks in style. It worked too, until one exploded on the skip and it caught fire. It took two hours for us to get the wreckage out of the water. The naiads weren't pleased at all."

The Stolls laughed. "Oh, I wish I'd been to camp then," Travis said. "Unfortunately, we arrived the next year."

"I'd call THAT unfortunate," Thalia mumbled to herself.

**a centaur in a prom dress — now that was a weird summer..."**

"What happened then?" Harry asked, chortling. "Tell me it wasn't Chiron in the prom dress."

Grover and the Stolls burst into laughter while Annabeth sighed.

"Yeah, it was," Conner laughed. "The Demeter cabin and the Aphrodite cabin got into a dispute that lasted for the first month of the summer. I think it was a competition over a boy."

Travis chuckled. "Yeah, I think the Demeter girl thought she was better for the boy than the Aphrodite one. I forgot their names."

Annabeth shook her head. "The counselors at the time were Mariette from Demeter, now deceased," a few people winced, "and Jessica-May from Aphrodite. I think it started over Brent from the my cabin, they both liked him. The two kept trying to impress him with what each thought was the most valuable skill. It was annoying."

"It was also funny, and weird!" Conner objected. "We had Capture the Flag, were Demeter and Aphrodite were the leading cabins on each group, and while the other cabins were trying to get the flag, Mariette and Jessica-May had forced their siblings to war each other."

"Mariette's pride had been wounded before and at the moment, she was in a shaky condition," Annabeth said. "She'd lost her father and step-mother in a fire, so her emotions weren't too stable. Chiron tried to stop it when Jessica-May finally used one of her cabin's curses on the fighters. Anyone in a mile radius, and that included the nymphs, were forced into ridiculous clothes and make-ups for a week, so the entire camp looked like they were going to prom. Argus was not happy."

"None of us were!" Travis groaned. "That was NOT cool! Those clothes were itchy."

Conner snickered. "I know that, but Chiron got the worst end! He had to wear a prom dress for the entire week, along with heels on his hooves and his hair was blond!"

A few people snorted.

"Poor guy," Neville said, trying not to smile.

Grover grinned as she shook his head. "After that, they had to change counselors. Silena Beauregard took over Aphrodite's cabin, and Julie Chaff took over for Demeter's cabin.

**"And the college ring is your father's?"**

**"That's none of your—" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."**

**"You don't have to tell me."**

**"No ... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard with out her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."**

**"That doesn't sound so bad."**

**"Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."**

"Even though I know this, it still sounds really bad," Hermione said, sighing with dismay at that relationship.

"It gets better, really," Annabeth said with a small smile.

**"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"**

**She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."**

**"You shouldn't give up," I told her. "You should write him a letter or something."**

**"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."**

**We passed another few miles of silence.**

**"So if the gods fight," I said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"**

**She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."**

**"Why?"**

**"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"**

"Yeah, what will your siblings think?" he asked, grinning his lopsided grin.

"Shut up," Annabeth laughed, rolling her eyes.

**I couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately I didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep.**

**I had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes.**

**My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket.**

"What?" everyone in the room asked.

Percy looked embarrassed. "Um, well... Usually, that's how I always felt," he said. "I have ADHD and people wanted me to behave. They gave me meds for it, put me in therapy, all sorts of stuff. I felt caged, like I was in a straitjacket all the time. That made me more rebellious, and my dreams half-way reflected that. I didn't like it."

"How does the standardized test come into this?" Nico asked.

"I don't like tests," Percy replied.

Thalia frowned. "Straitjacket? Test? Why does that sound familiar...?"

"You've had a dream like that too?" Conner asked. "That's so weird."

Percy's eyes widened. Thalia had been in that dream of his! Was it possible that she remembered something?

**All the other kids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, _Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil_.**

**Then the dream strayed from the usual.**

**I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose.**

Hermione frowned and looked up at Thalia. That description seemed to match the daughter of Zeus almost accurately with the exception of the eyes.

"Is that me?" Thalia asked, surprised. "Why am _I_ in your dream? And why do I have green eyes?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't actually know," he said. "I'd never seen you before then. Somehow you got there."

Thalia frowned. "Well, I have a suspicion, but I'm not sure." Then she smirked at him. "You know, besides the eyes, my description wasn't bad."

Percy grinned. "Does that mean I live?"

"For now."

The two of them laughed. Annabeth smiled and said, "Thalia, what's your suspicion about this?"

Thalia sighed. "Well, I was kept alive in the form a tree," she said slowly. "It was like being partially asleep and awake, in a way, but when I returned to human form, it all felt like a dream. I had demigod dreams frequently and sometimes I'd see visions that I didn't understand. I think Percy's dream might have been one of them. I don't remember seeing him at all, but I remember fragments every now and then, but only when something can _trigger_ it."

Nico's eyes widened. The pain he had felt before seemed something like that, but Thalia hadn't expressed any agony. Maybe it was because her memories hadn't been wiped away. His were and if might have been painful for them to return.

"That would make sense," Annabeth said. "We'd have to discuss that later, but we should let Hermione finish the chapter."

The readers all nodded in agreement and Hermione continued.

**Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus. She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, _Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here_.**

"How did you know my nickname?" Percy asked.

Thalia shrugged. "I don't remember everything. I can't answer that."

Percy sighed wearily and Hermione continued.

**She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind.**

**The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the class room floor. The teacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of a great chasm.**

"Not again," a few people groaned.

**_Percy Jackson_, it said. _Yes, the exchange went well, I see_.**

**I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing me. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.**

**_And he suspects nothing?_ it asked.**

**Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. _Nothing, my lord, he is as ignorant as the rest_.**

"Wait, someone is speaking to the dark voice?" Harry asked. "I though he would talk to you."

Percy nodded. "I was an unexpected guest. This was a meeting between the 'voice' and his spy at camp."

"Oh," Harry said, grimacing. Percy's 'visions' reminded him vague of his dreams in Voldemort's head.

**I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.**

**_Deception upon deception_, the thing in the pit mused aloud. _Excellent_.**

**_Truly_, _my lord_, said the voice next to me, _you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly_—**

**_You?_ the monster said in scorn. _You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened_.**

**_But_, _my lord_—**

**_Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands ... but wait. He is here_.**

"I thought he'd notice you sooner," Rachel said.

"He was too busy talking to L—the spy," Percy replied softly. Luckily, none of the Brits noticed his near slip. All but one.

Luna.

She frowned when she heard the 'common L' sound escape Percy's lips and frowned. No one else seemed to have noticed that. Luna hadn't spoken much during the story, so most people didn't notice her except for the Stolls who kept her company on the floor; at the moment they were looking at the floor, glaring. Who did Percy know whose name started with L? She started to think from the top, like the Ravenclaw she was. She decided to take the Stolls' glares into account...

**_What?_ The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. _You summoned him, my lord?_**

**_No_. The full force of the monsters attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. _Blast his father's blood — he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither_.**

"Nice," Nico said, "but are you crazy to put yourself there?"

"I didn't mean to do that," Percy said, running a hand through his hair.

**_Impossible!_ the servant cried.**

**_For a weakling such as you_, _perhaps_, the voice snarled. Then its cold power turned back on me. _So ... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige_.**

**The scene changed.**

**I was standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was my mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched.**

A few people (Hermione, Ginny, George, and Rachel) couldn't help but shoot Percy some sympathetic looks. Percy was too busy staring at his hands to notice.

**I tried to step toward her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, only to realize that my hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around me, draping me with silk robes, wreathing my head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp.**

**The evil voice began to laugh. _Hail, the conquering hero!_**

"Will that thing shut up already?" Ron grumbled.

**I woke with a start.**

**Grover was shaking my shoulder. "The truck's stopped," he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."**

**"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.**

**She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared.**

"Harry does that sometimes," Ron said. "Just within that past month. When someone's looking for him, he does it so he wouldn't be found."

"And I can never find him when I need to talk to him," Hermione grumbled.

Harry laughed. He never did that often, but it had always been funny. Ginny rolled her eyes. She agreed with Hermione. It was annoying.

**Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips.**

Conner snorted. "Good luck with that," he said.

**The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.**

**"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.**

**"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.**

**The lion roared in indignation.**

**"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.**

**Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.**

"I felt murderous too," Grover grumbled. "Stupid human..."

**The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"**

"What?" Ginny yelped. "Muggles do that!"

"As magic tricks," Annabeth said. "Most of the time they use people and fake ploys."

"That's not magic!" Ron exclaimed. "We would know!" He pointed at the rest of the Brits.

"Well, they didn't do that to him," Grover said.

"Good," Luna said, not liking the idea of an animal being cut up like that. Animals meant for food were a different story, but she didn't like that either.

**The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.**

**There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: _Free me, lord. Please_.**

"Where'd that come from?" Ron asked with wide eyes.

"The zebra," Grover said. "I hadn't understood what he meant until I saw him look at Percy."

"He called you lord?" George asked. "Why?"

"In a minute, George, I want to know what happens," Hermione said, holding up the book for him to see that she was still reading.

**I was too stunned to react.**

**There was a loud _knock, knock, knock_ on the side of the trailer.**

**The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"**

**A voice outside — it must've been Eddie's — shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"**

**"What are you banging for?"**

**_Knock, knock, knock_.**

**Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"**

"Wait, what's going—?" Ginny started. Then she stopped herself and said, "It's Annabeth, isn't it."

"You better know it," Annabeth said proudly.

**Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."**

**"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"**

**_That's right_, the zebra's voice said in my mind.**

"How is Percy hearing the animal?" Neville asked.

"It's one of my powers," Percy said. "I can hear one certain type of animal in particular."

"A zebra?" Ron asked.

Percy sighed. "The zebra's part of the species."

Ron stared at him. "Why can you hear a zebra?" he asked, still confused.

Percy smacked his forehead. "It's not just the ze — Hermione, read!"

Hermione giggled and looked down at the book again.

**"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at me, waiting for my lead.**

**I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability ... I could only under stand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why I could understand it?**

"Do you get it now, Ron?" Percy asked.

Ron thought about it. "Zebras and horses are part of the same species?" he asked.

"Yeah," Percy said, relieved that he had understood. "They are part of the Equidae. Horse family," he added when Ron looked confused again. "My father created them, so I can hear them."

"Oh," Ron said. Then he smiled. "That sounds cool."

"Most of the time," Percy muttered as Hermione started reading again. Sometimes those animals were annoying.

**The zebra said, _Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that_.**

**Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.**

**The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. _Thank you, lord_.**

**Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.**

"Now the chapter title makes more sense," Nico laughed. "That must have been a sight for the mortals."

**Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"**

"I bet they don't have one," Rachel said darkly. "They better get arrested for this."

**"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.**

**"The other animals first," Grover said.**

**I cut the locks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.**

**"Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.**

"Or maybe two demigods and a satyr released them from animal smugglers," Conner suggested.

"No one would believe that," Travis scoffed. "Well, at least they wouldn't believe the demigods and satyr part."

Conner laughed. "This is Vegas, man! They would believe _an ape_ could sing if it meant entertainment."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Name _one_ ape you know who can _talk_ and get back to me."

**"Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—"**

**"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."**

**"Meaning?"**

**"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."**

**"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked.**

**"It only works on wild animals."**

**"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.**

Everyone burst into boat-loads of laughter at that. Percy covered his face in shame.

"Good one, Annabeth!" Thalia giggled, clutching on to Nico and Grover's arms for support.

"Ow!" the two guys said, wrenching their arms away from her.

It took an entire minute for Hermione to read again, and every now and then, someone would giggle.

Percy response was always, "Just shut up."

**"Hey!" I protested.**

**"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."**

**We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention.**

**We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick.**

**I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.**

A sharp pain exploded behind Nico's eyes and he yelled out in shock. He covered his eyes as the pain moved around to the rest of his head and neck.

"Nico?" Thalia exclaimed, staring at him in horror. Then she saw blood trickle from his ear. "_Nico!_"

This time the pain didn't go away. It got _worse_. Nico collapsed to the ground, clutching his head, and crying in agony.

"_Make it stop! Make it stop!_" he pleaded to no one in particular.

He could feel someone shaking him as his head spun. He opened his eyes and saw everyone crowding around him. He couldn't hear what they were saying at all. His hearing started to fade. His sight began to blur. Heat ran over his skin, wisps of hellfire, and then everything went black.

* * *

_A single tear streaked down his uncharacteristically saddened face. He sniffled and wiped it away, trying to not cry in front of Mr. Alexander Erin and Bianca again. He stared down at his lap in silence, studying the cotton fabric absently. He pulled at the silk cuff of his skirt and sniffled again._

_"Nico, please don't cry," Bianca pleaded softly. "It will be alright."_

_Nico looked up at his older sister with wide, dark brown eyes. "How do you know?"_

_Bianca took her hand into his and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "It just will. I promise you that."_

_Nico wanted so badly to believe her, but he couldn't. He couldn't see how anything would be better. His mother and father were dead. They died in an explosion from what Mr. Erin had said. He was their father's lawyer, who maintained in court that the di Angelo siblings were not to be given to an orphanage. They were to go somewhere else._

_The automobile slowed to a halt at the side of the road. Someone opened the door and offered a hand to Bianca. She accepted and stepped out of the black automobile and Nico soon followed. He looked around at his surroundings. There were lots of flashing lights and loud music coming from the streets. Men, women and children of all ages walked smartly down the streets in their suits and fancy clothes, all celebrating that the war was over._

_Bianca shivered in her velvet coat. Nico could feel the cold, but he didn't care. That didn't stop him from snuggling tighter in his coat that his mother had given him for his birthday. Thinking of her brought both sadness and confusion. Sadness because she was dead. Confusion because he had trouble recalling her face._

_"This way, Mr. and Ms. di Angelo," Mr. Erin said sternly, leading them towards a hotel called the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Nico looked up curiously at the lotus designed doorway. It was pretty, but overly done. The scent of lotus flowers were high in the air. Bianca grabbed his hand so he wouldn't stray or bump into anyone and kept him close to her side._

_"Good evening," the doorman said cheerful. "Are you here to stay?"_

_"Just the children," Mr. Erin said. "One suite. Two rooms. Keep them as comfortable as possible."_

_The doorman nodded. "Very well, sir. This way kids." He smiled down cheerfully at them, and Nico couldn't help but smile back, but it soon disappeared when the doorman turned away._

_The lobby was an impressive game room, but Nico wasn't paying attention. He stared at the carpeted floor and allowed Bianca to guide him through the crowd in a daze. The doorman directed the di Angelos to the bell hop who gave them their room keys and sent them up to their rooms. Mr. Erin didn't follow them, but Bianca reassured Nico that he had told her what to do here. Nico was surprised that the arrangements had been made previously for them by their father before he died. None of his usual clothes were there, but they were all his size and very comfortable. His favorite foods were in the mini-fridges and cupboards. There was a television on both his and Bianca's rooms. They had a good view of Vegas city._

_Nico sat at the edge of his silk-covered bed, sniffling. He had a vague feeling that his mother always tucked him to bed, and now she wasn't here to do it anymore. A few tears streaked down his face as he stared at his hands. He didn't want to be in this hotel. He wanted to go to his family's manor, to his suite-bedroom where all his toys were, and he wanted his parents to be alive; for his mother to tuck him into bed and read him a story, or even sing him a lullaby; for the vague feelings of a father who lifted him up in the air and laughed._

_Nico frowned and cried harder. He couldn't understand why he couldn't remember his parents. Bianca insisted that he was still in shock. She was having the same issues, but she was being stronger about them. Nico curled up in a little ball and held his head in his hands, struggling to remember something. His mother's smile. His father's wild yet happy eyes when they fell on his mother, Bianca, and himself. His mother's voice when she sang him to sleep. His father's laugh when Nico ran into his arms for a hug. Little fragments came up, and then they were gone again._

_Gone. His memories left him for some reason. Was it because his parents left him? An agonized cry escaped his lips and Nico succumbed to grief like he had for the past two days. He wanted his mother. He wanted his father. Someone. Anyone!_

_"Nico?" a soft voice called from the hall. "Nico, is that you?"_

_Nico didn't have to answer. Bianca saw him on the bed, crying in a tight-knitted ball and rushed over. She put her arms around him and he melted into her hug._

_"Nico, it's going to be okay," she whispered to him. "Non piangere."_

_"They left us," he chocked out. "Mama and Dad. They left us! Sono morti!"_

_Bianca gently shushed him and pulled away to brush off his tears with her thumbs. "Hey, you listen to me," she said softly, yet firmly. "Mom and Dad didn't want to die. They never wanted to die in an — an — un esplosione. No, non lo fecero. There is nothing we can do about it."_

_Nico closed his eyes tightly and cried harder. Bianca pulled him into a hug, putting her cheek on his dark brown hair. After three minute, Nico felt a wetness on his scalp. He looked up to see tears leaking from Bianca's eyes onto his head._

_"I miss them too," she whispered to him. "I really do."_

_Nico hugged her and she returned with equal force and warmth. Nico rested his chin on her shoulder and took a shaky breath. He did this for five more minutes before he could say anything._

_"You won't leave me too, right, Bianca?" he asked in a barely audible voice. "Promise you won't leave me alone. Promessa."_

_Bianca stroked his sleek hair. "I promise you, Nico, I won't leave you. I won't leave you like our parents did. Promessa."_

_Bianca intended to keep that promise, Nico knew it. She rarely ever broke her promises._

_For the first day, Nico stayed in his room. Then gradually he left his room to explore the hotel — with Bianca's supervision, of course. There were several fun games to take his mind off his parents deaths. A day turned to days. Days to weeks. Nico had lots of fun playing with everyone. They even had tasty foods and desserts. His favorite dessert was the lotus shaped fruit._

_He went to arcades almost daily. He even showed a new guy, Darrin Reeves, how to play a virtual rifleman game that had just come in. Nico had to admit. The games got cooler every day. Soon, he stopped thinking off his parents altogether. Bianca struggled to remember, but she too was captivated by the number of games in the lobbies. Their furniture was constantly updated. Nothing else ever seemed to matter. And Nico didn't mind._

_One day, Nico was playing tag with the twins he'd befriended a few days earlier, Mario and Melissa. Bianca chased after him, trying to get him to stop because he had to eat dinner. Nico thought dinner could wait. He weaved in and out of the crowd of people. Melissa stopped long enough to stick her tongue out at him and continue running._

_"Hey!" Nico exclaimed, running faster. He turned the corner and bumped into an older kid who was standing near the arcades with another boy._

_"Ow!" the boy said, falling on his butt as Nico collided with him. "Watch where you're going!"_

_"Sorry," Nico said, getting up to his feet._

_"Percy, you okay?" the other boy asked as he helped his friend up._

_"I'm fine, Grover," the one Nico knocked down replied._

_Nico brushed off his pants and looked at the two kids. He hadn't seen them around before. One was wearing a colorful hat that Nico couldn't put a name on, but for a kid, it seemed weird to Nico that he was growing a beard. The other one, the kid he had bumped into, shook his head and looked down at Nico with dazed eyes, like he was thinking of something else. He had unruly black hair and green eyes. Nico frowned. Those eyes looked familiar. Who did they remind him of?_

_"Nico, there you are!" Bianca appeared next to him, looking cross. "I told you it's time for dinner. You're skin and bones!"_

_"No, I'm not," Nico protested, but Bianca still pulled him away from the arcade. Nico looked back at the two boys who were now engaged in a game. "Does he look familiar to you?"_

_Bianca looked at where Nico pointed to and frowned at the sight of the boy. "Sort of. He reminds me of Uncle Donny."_

_Nico looked bemused. "We have an Uncle Donny?"_

_Bianca rolled her eyes and pulled him towards the elevator. "Yes, we do. Don't you remember dad's brother? The one who died on a ship?"_

_Nico shook his head. "No."_

_Bianca sighed. "I swear Nico, you wouldn't know where your own head was if it wasn't attached to your neck," she sighed. "You should start focusing your mind more. Then you'd remember."_

_Nico thought about it. He grimaced. "Boring!" he exclaimed, tugging himself free and running away again. Bianca groaned and chased after him._

_"Nico di Angelo, you get back here!"  
_

* * *

Nico twitched his fingers. There was a wet substance on his skin. He coughed softly and groaned. His body felt sore and stiff. He tried to move but two hands held him down.

"_Easy_, child," the deep voice of a man murmured. "We don't want any trouble."

Nico's lips formed a frown and he struggled to open his eyes. They felt heavy, but he fought the weariness and won. Hovering above him was a face of a man. His features were blurred from Nico's vision, but he could vaguely make out bronze-colored hair and black eyes that sparkled like stars were embedded into them.

"Who—" Nico managed to choke out.

"Hush, child," the man said softly. "It's okay. It's over now. Just rest."

"Over?" Nico breathed. He shifted his head around and saw a mop of red hair next to him. Ginny. Next to her was Harry. And him, Ron. He turned his head the other way to see Thalia, unconscious, lying next to him with one hand gripping a fistful of his shirt. Looking around, Nico realized that everyone was unconscious on the ground.

"What — what happened?" Nico asked weakly.

The man looked curiously at him. "That is something for _my daughter_ to explain," he replied. "But she is not here. You will have to wait."

"But—" Nico coughed, When he spoke, his voice cracked up. "Why are they like this? Are—"

"They are only sleeping," the man said. "They are perfectly safe. I was able to channel the outburst you had away from his mansion. It was powerful enough to cause damage to the star I threw it at. Very powerful indeed." The man looked thoughtful. "It is no wonder why you will given that position..."

Nico was confused. "Wh-what position? Who are you?"

The man smiled in a very fatherly manner. "A friend, Mr. di Angelo." He put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small vile. "I believe this Tonic is yours?"

Nico's eyes widened at the familiar red substance in the vile. "How did—"

"Apollo left it in case of an emergency," the man said. "Unfortunately, neither of your current guardians were here to supervise you whole-heartedly. Luckily I always supervise my daughter's home."

Nico pushed himself into a sitting position. It was difficult considering that his body screamed in protest, but Nico was stubborn. It didn't take long to coax him to drink his tonic — it tasted horrible without its mix — but soon the pain started to recede and Nico's vision cleared. His muscles were weak, but he felt better.

"Do you know what happened to me?" he asked the man. It was obvious that he wasn't going to tell Nico who he was, so Nico didn't pester him. He wasn't in the mood for that, but he was still slightly distrustful. "Why did I blackout?"

The man sighed. "Your mind and senses are heightened in this house," he explained. "The _smallest_ triggers will cause _massive_ damage if not tended to immediately."

"Trigger?"

"To your memories," the man explained. "On earth, that trigger would be too weak. It would have no affect. On Star, on the other hand, it is very different. I wouldn't have thought it would happen so soon. Neither of us did." The man sighed. "She knew there was the slight possibility of it, but the odds were in your favor. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Nico frowned. "I don't understand."

The man sighed and ran his hand through his rusty bronze hair. "And I can't explain. Only my daughter can. I'm sorry, Nico, but I have to go now."

Nico grabbed his arm. "Who are you?"

The man smiled. "Name the Void, and you'll now. Don't tell your friends that I was here." And with that, he was gone.

Nico rubbed his eyes. Was that a dream? He looked around and realized that that had been a stupid thought. He gently removed Thalia's hand from his shirt and shook her shoulder.

"Thalia, wake up," he said.

Thalia stirred. "_Hm?_"

Nico heard a soft cough behind him and saw Harry struggling to sit up. "Ron? Hermione?" Harry coughed, sitting up to see his two friends lying on the ground next to him. Then he noticed Ginny. "Ginny? Ginny, _wake up!_" Harry shook her shoulder and she groaned. He sighed with relief and Nico winced. He must have thought she was dead.

Thalia sat up and groaned. "What the hell happened?" she asked loudly. Her voice seemed to snap into everyone, because immediately, the rest of them began to stir. She looked at Nico and gasped. "_Oh my gods_, Nico, are you okay?"

Nico swallowed. "I think so."

Thalia grimaced. "You _think?_ Nico, you're covered in blood!"

That snapped the rest of them awake. The minute the words '_covered in blood_' met everyone's ears, they all scrambled to their feet and looked around for the son of Hades. Thalia sat up next to him, too dazed to stand up. Ginny actually yelped at the sight of him. Travis's eyes widened in horror and Conner's jaw dropped. Nico was confused. Then he looked down at his hands and almost blacked out again. His hands were smudged with red, and their were droplets on his clothes and on the carpet. He raised his hand to his head and realized the blood had come from his ears and nose. He could taste blood on his lips.

That wasn't good. He must have been so caught up talking to that man that he didn't notice what was wrong with himself.

Hermione was at his side immediately. "Nico, look at me," she said firmly. Nico obeyed and Hermione pulled out her wand. "_Lumos_," she said, and a light came out from the tip. She used the light to examine his eyes, and even went ahead to test his hearing and sight.

"Are you training to be a healer, Hermione?" Ginny asked her.

Hermione shook her head. "No, but living with Harry made me realize that I would need to know a few things about vitals."

Harry turned red and frowned in shame. Hermione started to wordlessly remove the blood from Nico's clothes, hands, and face until he was clean again. The demigods watched in awe at how the blood just disappeared. Annabeth rummaged through the dining cart set and found a bottle of nectar.

"Drink this, now," she instructed Nico.

"I feel fine," Nico insisted before he winced in pain from trying to keep his back straight. "It's not that bad," he added when he saw Annabeth's expression.

"Nico, we all woke up to find you bloody," she said. "Don't argue."

Nico pouted and drank the nectar she gave him. Whatever injured he had healed up instantly, but he still felt weak. Grover gave him some ambrosia to nibble on; it helped a little bit, but not enough. He looked at the others. Harry, Ron, Neville, George, Percy, Conner, Travis, and Perce were examining the room. Nico realized that a few bits of furniture were burned. Ginny and Rachel both looked dazed. Hermione and Annabeth tended to Nico's previous injures. Thalia hadn't moved from her spot on the floor.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"I'll tell you what happened," Harry said. "One minute we were reading and the next, you were screaming in pain. As soon as we got up to help you, everything around us started to explode. That's the last thing I remember before getting dizzy and blacking out."

"How did we black out?" Neville asked. "I don't think the explosions did it."

"I felt like someone removed the oxygen from my lungs," Ginny said, shivering. "We were all standing up and then, as one, we all collapsed."

Nico gulped. "It was _my_ fault. I think my powers got out of control again."

Rachel shook her head. "Nico, don't blame yourself. It was an accident."

"The question is, why did it happen?" Hermione asked.

Nico was still reeling from what the man had told him. He didn't want to talk about something he didn't understand. "I don't know," he said. "Like Harry said, we were reading and it came from no where." He yawned. "Can you help me up?"

Luna shook her head. "Nico, you should rest."

"We can finish reading later," Conner offered. "Frankly, this chapter was starting to get boring."

Nico snorted. "I think it's more interesting that what it is." Nico trying to get up, but his head spun and he ended back on the ground again, clutching his stomach. "And I think I'm hungry."

A few people chuckled, but not looked amused. They were nervous and twitchy. Nico tried to get up again, but some sort of force pulled him back down again. He frowned, trying to figure out was wrong.

"What are we going to do then," Ginny asked.

Nico spoke up, "Well, perhaps we can finish the chapter only, and take a break," Nico said. "There can't be that many pages left."

Hermione picked up the book, which had wedged itself safely in the corner of the couch and opened up to her chapter and counted the number of pages that were left.

"He's right," she said. "We've read most of it."

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "I think we should tend to Nico first."

Nico grimaced. "I'm not a baby, Annabeth," he protested. "I can handle a few minutes of reading."

Annabeth looked like she was going to argue when a small purple fire burned over the dining cart. An envelope fell out and fell at Harry's feet. He looked startled, but he carefully picked it up and examined it. It wasn't sealed, but the writing was in neat letters that resembled ancient handwriting.

"What is that?" Perce asked. Harry handed him the envelope and Perce cast a spell over it. "It's not harmful." He reported, taking out a piece of paper from it.

"Read it," Rachel said.

Perce nodded and skimmed through the message quickly. "It says, **_'Dear readers. As you are well aware, Mr. di Angelo has caused a slight disruption in your reading session_**—"

"Slight?" Travis asked.

Perce ignored him. "—**_but there was no major damage caused. I would advice that you complete your current chapter now and resume after lunch. Mr. di Angelo should eat now for he is too tired to go anywhere. Food will be delivered from the kitchens for you, so you need not leave_**.' It's unsigned," Perce concluded.

Harry took the page from him. "I don't recognize the handwriting," he said. "On the note in the kitchen, the writing was different."

Hermione looked over his shoulder at it. "It looks like a man's writing."

"The other looked like a woman's," Harry concluded.

Nico knew it was that same man from before, the one who didn't tell him his name. What had he meant by name the Void? Why did that wording sound familiar? He had read it before?

"I have no idea who it could be," Annabeth said, frustrated. "This whole place is confusing."

Nico coughed when he tried to say something about what happened when he woke up. Then he remembered that the man had warned not to say a thing. Every time he tried to tell them about the man, his throat clogged up. He must be restricting him somehow.

"Look, I don't know if reading is the best thing to do right now, not with Nico—" Annabeth started, but Nico interrupted.

"Actually, I only feel a little sore," Nico said. "Other than that, I feel a whole lot better than I did when I woke up." Then he added in his thoughts, '_At least now that I've taken my Tonic. I haven't had an outburst like that in months_.'

"But Nico—" Hermione started, but he interrupted again.

"Look, I've been through worse than a little bleeding," Nico said, trying not to snap at them. "I've broken bones and gotten nasty injuries from monster fights. As you can see, I'm still here. A nose bleed isn't going to kill me."

"Your ears were bleeding too, Nico," Thalia pointed out.

"And now it's all healed thanks to ambrosia and nectar," Nico reminded her. "Have you forgotten what those can do."

Conner chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed, di Angelo, you can't get up from the ground yet. That's what's concerning us." Nico glared at him.

"Maybe I just don't want to get up," Nico snapped.

"Or maybe you CAN'T!" Travis retorted.

Percy shrugged. "He makes himself a point, Nico." Percy could have sworn he heard Nico mutter 'traitor' under his breath.

It took twenty minutes of coaxing, arguing, debating, voting, and more coaxing before everyone finally came to their conclusions: they would finish reading the chapter since there wasn't that much left, have lunch, and then take a few hours break. If Nico wasn't feeling up to it, they'd continue the next day. If he felt better, then they'd finish off the nine chapters for the day and leave the rest for the next day anyway.

One problem they had was that Nico couldn't get off the floor. Perce tried levitating him to the couch, but the minute Nico left the floor, he started twitch in pain. They couldn't lift him up manually either. He couldn't even move on his own. It was like he was grounded there by some sort of magic. Eventually they had to just leave him there. When everyone returned to their seats, the only people left on the ground was Nico, Luna, and surprising Thalia. The Stolls hadn't liked now Nico was within kicking range of them and had immediately returned to their former seats for safety.

"Why are you on the ground, Thalia?" Ginny asked. She had found it strange because the entire time they were talking, Thalia had not even stood up.

"Oh, now someone notices," Thalia grumbled. "I can't get up."

"What do mean?" Travis asked.

Thalia glared at him. "It means that I can't get up!" she said heatedly. "Someone help me up! Now!"

Percy sighed and walked over to her, grasping under her arms while she gripped onto his forearms, but when he tried to pull her up, he ended up falling down next to her.

"What the—?" Percy exclaimed as he quickly scrambled to his feet. He tried to pull Thalia up again, but she wouldn't budge. Startled, Annabeth went to help him. No change.

'_She couldn't possibly be that heavy_,' Percy mentally grumbled as Hermione examined Thalia carefully along with Perce's and Luna's help. They identified the problem.

"Whatever magic that's holding Nico down is holding you too, Thalia," Perce said. "Nico is freer to move around, but it is too painful. That's why he has to stay down. Are you feeling any pain?"

Thalia shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Why is it affecting Thalia?" Ginny asked.

Perce murmured a few spells around the area and carefully studied his results. After five minutes of waiting, which wasn't doing well with the demigods, he finally stood up and sighed.

"The magic placed on Nico must have gotten on her somehow," he said. "It didn't touch anyone else."

Nico frowned as he looked up at Thalia. She was sitting by his head, so from his view, she was upside-down. "Wait a minute," he said suddenly. "Thalia, you were touching me when I woke up! Your hand was holding my shirt."

Thalia looking momentarily confused, but then her eyes widened. "I was, wasn't I?" she said, shocked. "When you fell, you were screaming. I grabbed your shirt to pull you back up and that was when I blacked out."

"And you were still gripping my shirt when I woke up," Nico concluded. "I removed it before I woke you up."

Annabeth thought hard. "That means that if your down there, Thalia will have to stay that way too until you're able to get up," she said. She looked at Hermione. "Do you know anything that would help?"

Hermione shook her head. "Percy — Weasley, I mean — and I have done all that we know—"

"And we know a lot," Perce added.

Hermione nodded. "—and nothing has worked. The spell is too strong for us to undo, even combined."

Thalia groaned. "Are you telling me I'm stuck down here and you don't know when I can get up?"

Perce nodded. "That's exactly what we're saying.

George frowned. "Wow, tough luck."

Thalia resisted glaring at him and rested her head on the edge of her seat. "So now I have to stay here with Nico on the floor while you finish the chapter?"

"Well, unless you want to wait for the spell to wear off him and do nothing for the next who-knows-how long, then yes, you do," Percy said. Thalia gave Percy a look that nearly made him shudder. "Hey, reading will pass the time."

She sighed, knowing he was right. She dropped her shoulders and stretched out her legs forward, folding the right over the left. Or she tried to; the only problem was that Nico's head got in her way.

"Move your foot!" Nico complained, glaring at her lower legs that knocked on the top of his head.

"Move your head!" Thalia snapped, annoyed.

"I was here first!"

"Well, I'm here because of you!"

"Guys, no fighting!" Ginny said to the two of them.

"He started it!" Thalia said just as Nico said, "She started it!"

Ron stared at the two of them in surprise. "Wow," was all he had to say on the matter.

"Can't you find a compromise?" Annabeth pleaded.

Nico and Thalia glowered at her. Nothing happened for a whole minute since the two of them were sulking. Then, as if someone had possessed her, Thalia reluctantly reached forward and lifted up Nico's head, put her legs underneath, and rested his head back down so that she would be the pillow.

That surprised everyone, including Nico. Thalia didn't blush, but her eyes were daggers. She looked like she wanted to get up and run, but unfortunately she couldn't. It was obvious that she didn't want Nico's head anywhere near her, mere instincts of a Hunter of Artemis. Nico looked ready to push her away, but his limbs were too weak. He just settled for pouting.

"Well, well," he said. "What would your sister think?" Thalia knew he was teasing her with mentioning Artemis, but she didn't care. She couldn't move from her spot, he couldn't move from his, so this was the best thing she could do — though she prayed to the gods for an alternative: like being able to get up.

Thalia glared. "Just this one time, di Angelo," she snapped. "Under other circumstances, I'd shoot an arrow into you!"

Nico laughed weakly. "You're acting like I _forced_ you."

"Will you two stop bickering, we have to finish the chapter!" Rachel said sternly. The son of Hades and the daughter of Zeus instantly hushed up at the sight of the glare that went with the tone.

Luna looked at Nico with concern, not taking note of what Rachel had just said. She filled up a plate with sandwiches and sat next to Nico and Thalia.

"He should eat," she said. "He looks paler than before."

Nico's stomach rumbled, like it had heard Luna speak and wanted Nico to listen. It wasn't hard to get him to eat. The Stolls sat in their seats and tried not to laugh. One girl was being the pillow and the other was feeding him.

'_That must be the most attention he's got from girls, ever_,' Travis mouthed to Conner. Conner had to stuff his fist in his mouth not to laugh.

After ensuring that there was nothing else to take care of, Hermione made a small recap of what she had read before the incident and continued with the story:

**I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.**

**The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers — lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure.**

**The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"**

**I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and I could see. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in.**

"But you guys have a job to do," Ron pointed out.

"They have a few more days," Neville pointed out. "A break wouldn't hurt."

Nico grimaced. He was sure it would, not physically, but at least their chances. Just entering the hotel would speed their hours immediately. Luna noticed his expression and frowned. Was he still in pain, or was he reacting to the story?

**Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."**

**The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.**

Conner gaped. "That sounds—"

"Incredible!" Travis finished for his brother.

Percy sighed. "It always does in the beginning."

"You have to leave," Nico said softly. "You can't stay in there."

"We didn't know that at first," Grover mumbled.

Harry frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Keep reading," Nico said, broke he accepted another piece of sandwich from Luna. "You'll see then."

**"Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."**

**I stammered, "Um, but..."**

**"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or what ever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."**

"What?" a few people asked.

"I'll admit, I'd love to stay there for a while," Travis said, grinning, "but something seems off."

"Seems off?" Neville asked. "He said the bill was paid already for them. Who paid it?"

"We don't know," Annabeth said. "That's what the hotel does."

"Are there any monsters?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, no monsters," Annabeth reassured her. "But that place is bad news."

That didn't reassure the Brits very much.

**He handed us each a green plastic credit card.**

**I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?"**

**His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"**

**"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"**

**He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."**

'_He was always too cheerful_,' Nico thought to himself as he munched on his cheese and turkey sandwich. '_I can remember that much now_.'

Nico thought about that memory he had triggered, the one where he and Bianca had first arrived at that hotel. He hadn't wanted to bring that up. He had tried when he tried to speak about that strange man, but his voice had cut off on him. Those memories of his life in the Casino were still vague, but bits and pieces were coming back to him.

**We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool.**

"Until shards fall on someone's head," Rachel pointed out.

"I'm sure the hotel wouldn't allow that," Nico said as he swallowed the remains of his sandwich. "They wouldn't want to attract major—" Nico yawned widely. "M-major at-tention."

**The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.**

**"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..."**

**"Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."**

**There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.**

**I threw Ares's backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. When we left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.**

'_And leave the lightning bolt at the same time_,' Percy thought. '_Thank gods it returned to me_.'

**I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel.**

"I would imagine," Ginny muttered.

**I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. In the back of my mind, some small problem kept nagging me. I'd had a dream or something ... I needed to talk to my friends. But I was sure it could wait.**

Nico grimaced. It was starting. He was beginning to lose focus of what mattered. The hotel had done that too him too. It had distracted him from his parents' death long enough for him not to care about it anymore.

**I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.**

"Annabeth, you're not serious," Conner groaned. "NGC? That's the channel you pick? What about TNT, or Syfy, or Warner, or ABC! Even the CW, and you choose that!"

Annabeth glared at him. "I prefer to watch educational stuff. Not action all the time."

Travis shook his head. "She doesn't know how to live, guys," he said sadly. "She doesn't know." Conner looked mournful.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and gestured for Hermione to finish reading.

**"All those stations," I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"**

"Thank gods, Percy agrees!" Conner exclaimed. "Someone sane in that room!"

Annabeth glowered at Percy. "I'd forgotten you'd said that.

Percy smirked. "Don't give me that look. My opinion hasn't changed one bit." Annabeth rolled her eyes at his statement.

Nico snorted and closed his eyes as he chewed on his next sandwich. He had to agree with both Annabeth and Percy. He only watched NGC to see series about space, plants, and galaxies. He thought they were fascination, but only when he was really bored.

**"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place."**

**Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.**

**"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"**

**Grover and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic LotusCash cards.**

**"Play time," I said.**

"You're going to _play_?" Thalia asked in disbelief. She tried to switch the formation in which she had folded her legs, but when Nico winced in pain, she had to give up. "Have you lost your minds? You have a job to do!"

'_Have YOU lost your mind? My head is here!_' Nico thought to himself as he accepted another sandwich from Luna.

Annabeth, Percy, and Grover all looked ashamed. They hadn't realized that the hotel had been messing with them already.

"We sort of — forgot," Percy said in shame.

Nico tried not to groan. His little blackout incident had shown him that they did indeed play in the Casino, but he knew they had left. He wanted to know how.

**I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it.**

**I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing - where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks.**

Rachel giggled. "Honestly, Grover?"

"Heh," was all Grover said.

**I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D Sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it.**

"Of course she did," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "It's linked to architecture."

Annabeth blushed.

**I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong.**

**Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night.**

"That's odd," Hermione said, frowning. "That fashion was out decades ago."

**We played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better."**

_**Groovy?**_

"That would seem odd," Conner said. "No one says _that_ anymore either."

**Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before.**

**He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen.**

Nico smiled. Darrin Reeves. He remembered that kid. Came from the 1970's; he was only a few decades younger than him.

**I said, "Hey, Darrin?"**

**"What?"**

**"What year is it?"**

**He frowned at me. "In the game?"**

**"No. In real life."**

**He had to think about it. "1977."**

"Wait, wait!" Hermione exclaimed. "Excuse me?"

"That's the problem with the hotel," Percy said. "Once you go in, basically you don't come out or age."

"There's magic in the place, keeping you in," Annabeth added. "Either you choose to leave on your own, which is almost never, or someone takes you out."

"How did you guys get out?" Neville asked.

"Percy," Grover and Annabeth said.

Nico yawned. "L-L-Lucky you."

Thalia bent forward to check on him. "Are you okay?"

"Just tired," Nico said sleepily.

**"No," I said, getting a little scared. "Really."**

**"Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening."**

**After that he totally ignored me.**

**I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care.**

"Of course we didn't," Nico whispered softly, closing his eyes. "We were happy as we were. We never wanted to leave."

Only Luna heard him and her eyes widened. Nico had _been_ one of them?

**Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it?**

**I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My mother ... for a scary second, I had trouble remembering her name.**

"That's bad," George said, gulping hugely.

"I remembered quickly," Percy calmly assured him.

**Sally. Sally Jackson. I had to find her. I had to stop Hades from causing World War III.**

Nico groaned, nearly dozing off on himself. He hadn't liked World War II! He didn't need to return to Three. He opened his eyes and shook his head. He didn't need to formulate that sort of dream now!

**I found Annabeth still building her city.**

**"Come on," I told her. "We've got to get out of here."**

**No response.**

**I shook her. "Annabeth?"**

**She looked up, annoyed. "What?**

**"We need to leave."**

**"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers -"**

**"This place is a trap."**

**She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?"**

"I was really annoyed with you," Annabeth recalled.

"We'll, I was annoyed with you, too," Percy said, pouting. "You kept ignoring me."

A few people laughed.

**"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"**

**"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes."**

"Minutes to hours." Nico yawned. "H-hours to days. Days to ... weeks."

Hermione looked down at him. "How do you know that?"

Nico looked up at her drowsily. "Hm?"

Hermione shook her head. "Never mind."

**"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."**

**"So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"**

"Yeah, home," Percy said, smiling. "At camp. New York."

"We get it," Thalia said.

**I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game.**

**"Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy.**

**I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders."**

Ron and Annabeth shuddered.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Ron asked him bitterly.

"It woke me up," Annabeth said.

"Still!" Ron shivered. "Large, hairy spiders? Aragog!"

Harry sighed. "Don't worry, Ron. Aragog is not here, and neither is any of his big relatives."

That didn't improve anything. Annabeth felt extremely unnerved. She had a feeling that Aragog was a huge spider, and if he scared Ron, he most definitely would scare her.

**That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we—"**

**"I don't know, but we've got to find Grover."**

**We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.**

**"Grover!" we both shouted.**

**He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"**

"It's nice to know you like us," Conner said, feinting offense and heart-break.

Grover rolled his eyes and didn't respond.

**"Grover!"**

**He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen.**

All eyes turned on a beet-red Grover.

"I'm sorry?" he said, but it sounded like a question.

**I looked at Annabeth, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! _No!_"**

Now they were laughing.

"It's not funny, guys," Grover said, turning redder than the Weasleys' hair.

**The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"**

**"We're leaving," I told him.**

**"Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."**

**He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget my mom, and my quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever.**

Nico shook his head, close to dozing off. "Darrin Reeves. Not Disco Darrin," he said softly.

Luna wasn't the only one to hear him. Harry, Ginny, Thalia, and Rachel did too.

**Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."**

**We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once...**

"I hope you snapped out of it," Thalia warned. "You have work to do."

"We did," Annabeth reassured her.

**Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.**

**Ares's backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I was sure I had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment I had other problems to worry about.**

"Why did it return to you?" Perce asked.

"It was charmed to do that," Percy said. "Sort of like Riptide."

**I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth.**

"You were in their for five days?" Rachel asked, shocked.

"That means you only have one day left!" Travis said. "How the hell do you do a quest in a day?"

"You'll see," Percy sighed.

**We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.**

**We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.**

"And that's it," Hermione said, bookmarking the page. "Okay, lunch time."

As soon as she said it, the dining cart filled up with different foods: pizzas, cheese enchiladas, macaroni pie, fruit, roasted turkey, and salads. Two jugs, one of apple cider, the other of water, appeared next to the food along with utensils and plates.

"Okay, Nico, are you feeling better?" Annabeth asked.

"He can't answer," Luna told her.

"Why not?" Harry asked. Luna pointed at Nico.

Everyone looked down in surprise to see the son of Hades fast asleep with his head on Thalia's legs. Percy bit back a laugh at Thalia's expression, and soon, the rest of them were as well.

"_Get—him—off—me!_" she hissed.

Percy and the Stolls chuckled and carefully eased Nico away from her but he started grimace in pain when they tried to get him on the couch again. Thalia curled up her legs to her side. It was uncomfortable, but at least no one was sleeping on her.

"Okay, leave him there," Annabeth said. "Leave him on the ground. I don't think it's best to move him yet."

Neville frowned. "So what do we do now?"

"Eat," Ron said. "We can talk about what to do during lunch."

"I agree," George said, picking up a slice of pizza.

* * *

"You should have told me!"

Vena plopped herself down on a kitchen chair and glared at her father as he calmly poured himself a glass of Dionysus's finest. He merely glanced up at her and sighed.

"Sweetheart, you needed a break," he said firmly. "You work too much! When I saw go you to visit Iris, I thought you should be left out of it for a while."

"Daddy!" Vena said, pouting. "This is my responsibility! You shouldn't have shielded me from it! I could have taken care of it!"

Chaos sighed and took a sip of the tart drink. "Venaurora, neither of us expected the younger di Angelo to have an outburst like that," he said calmly. "There was only a 10% chance of it, and even that was unlikely."

Vena shook her head. "I should have been more careful," she said. "Or Apollo could have given him a larger dose of the Tonic. I shouldn't have left."

Chaos's galaxy eyes darkened to black holes at the mention of Apollo. "I don't see why you need to have that _áthlia agóri_ here."

Vena rolled her eyes. "He isn't that bad, Daddy," she said. "He's my friend."

Chaos huffed. "Some _friend_ he is! He's _broken_ your heart _more_ than the number of souls in Asphodel!" Chaos shook his head. "Why you let him near you, I can't fathom, Venaurora."

"I told you, Daddy, nothing's going to happen," Vena insisted. "I've made it clear to Apollo that we're only friends. It's been like that since day one."

"Which was _when_, Venaurora?" Chaos asked.

Vena grimaced. "A few millennia ago?"

Chaos took another sip of his wine. "_Aurora_, sweetheart, I don't want you close to him," he said. "I know that I can't force you to listen, but just take reason into account." Vena nodded glumly. "As for di Angelo, I made sure that he damaged nothing in this house. He will need rest, but he also needs answers. Be sure to give them to him before a Star-week is out."

"Yes, Daddy," Vena said. Then she sighed. "I really shouldn't have left. I should have seen it coming and stopped him. That wouldn't have happened."

Chaos finished off his wine. "It would have been worse if I hadn't knocked the children out."

"They're not children, Dad," Vena sighed. "And I almost messed up. I promised Hades that I wouldn't let anything happen to Nico."

Chaos smiled. "If you don't let anything happen to him, then nothing will happen to him," he said, taking her hands into his. "That would be a very boring way to live."

Vena laughed and shook her head. "Funny, Daddy."

Chaos's smile turned to a frown. "Where's Apollo? I thought he agreed to look after those kids too."

Without warning, Vena's sight found Apollo in Anastasie's kitchen. Anastasie was in the bathroom, but Apollo was in the kitchen in only his underwear. That was not the sight Vena needed right now.

She shook her head and sighed. "He's — _out_."

Chaos's eyes turned to black holes again. "With another of his _thnitós athýrmata_, I presume?"

She glared. "Daddy, we're _not_ going over this _again_."

Chaos pursed his lips and sighed. "So stubborn," he muttered. "Very well, I will go now. But if I find that he breaks your heart again, that _anóitos_ better be prepared for torture worse than the Fields of Punishment."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

**A note to you, I actually teared up writing Nico's flashback. I'm not ashamed to say it. Listening to Taylor Swift's 'Safe and Sound' didn't add any comfort either.**

**Here's a small list of translations for the non-English words above: [Non piangere - Don't cry], [Sono morti - They died], [Un esplosione - explosion], [No, non lo fecero - No, they didn't], [Promessa - promise], [áthlia agóri - miserable boy], [anóitos - fool], [thnitós athýrmata - mortal playthings]**

**So, I just watched The Amazing Spider Man. I have to say it was definitely good. I think the new guy is cuter than Tobey, just my opinion. Oh, and I watched Teen Choice Awards tonight! It was great! I loved the part where they sang happy birthday to Selena Gomez. Demi looked completely stunning the whole night. And go Vampire Diaries for snagging those awards! Yes!**

**~o~**

**To Andrea Wong: That is exactly why she won't give him a chance. Her father doesn't want her near him as well, but lots of fathers seem like that to boys who like their baby girls.**

**To Jonathan: Yeah, well, it's Aphrodite, so for me, it wasn't unexpected. Annabeth's knife is quite minor. Vena will explain why she is the weaponless one as some point. And the A to the V.V.A of Vena's name is actually the easiest to guess. I've mentioned it before. All you have to do is look.**

**To JGS39: I definitely can't wait to do Harry's books, but I have to because I'm finishing Percy's books first. And there's lot to do with them. Only until I got to the Tunnel of Love part that I remembered Ron was scared of spiders too. I can't believe I had forgotten before. I don't like forgetting important facts like that. And I don't think your review was that hyperactive. Sometimes, I'm worse. (Some people think I have A.D.D). As for Hapi the god of the Nile, well, I instantly thought The Serpent's Shadow when you said that. Never give me Hapi pills. I don't think I could stand it.**

**To JMac322: I like Damon, but Stefan has always been the favorite. And I love Katherine. She's amazing. I don't think Elena's that annoying. I like her, but she always seems confused or whiny when making decisions because the brothers are always trying to protect her. I've gotten used to it, it's what makes Elena, Elena. As for this story, I don't plan on quitting, but when my exams start, I'll have to take long breaks, so I have to finish as much as I can quick, do exams, and then complete it afterwards. But that's months from now — and I still have to rush.**

**To lunalovegood0628: And to think I was going to type that book next. *sighs*. Well, I remember her saying that after the battle, that she would take Percy and Annabeth out for burgers. I think it was burgers. Or was that the Demigod Files. I know that she said that they would go out for food and Percy said "You're on". I can't remember the exact quote, but I know that much.**

**To baritonegirl: I planned on uploading that one on Wednesday. I actually wrote that down. It just seemed really important that I did, and now I know why :P. I'm hoping to get chapters up twice a week at least. Fingers crossed. Oh, and I've started off that request. I'm not sure when I'll have the storyline complete to write the complete story, but hopefully it will start before September. October as latest.**

**To Hayley Granger: Well, I thought Ron deserved it. He is the chess master as far as I'm concerned. And the Weasley King! Oh, and U-NO-POO was in Half Blood Prince, when they were going to visit the twins' joke stop. And I've tried watching Spongebob before, but I always end up changing the channel to Phineas and Ferb. Honestly, I like P&F more. And I would think that Chaos would only hurt Apollo if he broke Vena's heart. Again.**

**To toe walker: I don't mind that you haven't read the previous chapters. You're probably not the only one, and that's perfectly okay :) I'm just glad you still like them.**

**To Ptroxsora: Really? I need to go find that! How did I not know that? I must me crazy not to know that! ... Oh now I see why people think I have A.D.D. I'm jumping in my seat.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: The Apollo and Vena relationship definitely seems complicated. Chaos is involved in it, but there is a reason he doesn't approve of Apollo for his daughter. Oh, and Vena always knows what's up with Apollo. She had no choice but to know everything. I don't think she likes that part of her job description. Oh, and as for the 2012, there are so many documentaries going around it that it drives me crazy. I know the one in December, I know some people predicted wrongly and said it was before, but I didn't know the Mayans didn't do leap years, so thank you for tell me that. Honestly, what's the point of all the reading if I missed that. I might lose my title of Honorary Ravenclaw by my cousin! (I'm Slytherin). Don't tell her I said that. *looks around cautiously* Alright, I'm off course. Thanks for enjoying the last chapter. I hoped this one was okay.**

**~o~**

**So that's all for now. Bye.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	22. Lunch in the Common Room

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.**

**As I mentioned in the last chapter, this one is not a reading.**

**I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I've had other stuff to do lately, but I've started working on the other chapter right now. This chapter itself is a bit confusing. I was just so tired of editing and editing and editing that I left a few parts alone because they began to frustrate me. My mom will be leaving the country for the while, so at home, the house is rather hectic with her preparing for departure. I won't go into the finer details here, but down here, the country is piping hot. It's the Wet-Season here, and there's hardly any rain. That's so not far.**

**Song of the chapter: Caro Emerald - That Man (I'm deciding to post a song I listened to when writing the chapter because I'm bored; it makes me think of Apollo and Vena).  
**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**Lunch in the Common Room**

* * *

A small clock appeared on the dining cart next to the trays of food, marking the time as noon.

The sky above Star turned dark pink and orange, shining colorful light over the lush green lawn of Star Mansion. The huge fireplace suddenly burnt alight with cheery gold flames, enough to shine warm light on the readers and cool enough so they wouldn't have to deal with overheating.

It took five minutes for the readers to dish themselves their lunch (Rachel had to get Thalia's food for her since she still couldn't get up). They returned to their seats and started to eat. A grim air wafted around them so no one was comfortable. Between bites of pizza and sips of juice, very few words were exchanged between the two groups.

Light coughs rose from the area containing Nico di Angelo. Every now and then, Rachel and Hermione would check to see if he were okay before continuing with their lunch. The food was delicious. Conner and Travis took several mental notes on the ingredients that they tasted in each selection, determined to make their own version of the foods when they finished the book's reading term.

After five minutes of no one talking, Percy Weasley finally spoke up.

"We really should fix up this room when we're finished with our meals," Perce said, closely examining the burnt furniture. "This place doesn't belong to us. We should as least repair the damage, for the owner."

Thalia glanced at Nico while she munched on her cheese pizza. "And what do we do about _Mr. Exploder_ over here?" she asked, jabbing her thumb in Nico's direction.

Annabeth shrugged as she took another bite of pizza. "We can't move him yet, so we should just leave him there for now."

"Yeah, Nico always gets tired when he uses up his powers," Percy spoke up. "I've had to carry him on one such occasion. It wasn't fun. He's no lightweight, no matter how small he is."

They continued eating in silence. Then Hermione, after taking a sip of orange juice, sat forward.

"I want to know why it happened here," she said. "Nico was fine until that outburst. It came out of nowhere. I want to know why that happened to him..."

Grover sighed. "I think we all want to know that, Hermione," he said. "I've never seen that happen to him before."

A small groan on the floor distracted them for a moment as Nico shuffled around from his side and changing from a yearner-position to a soldier-position on the floor. His face was blank, ceased of scowling, frowning, smiling, and talking. For once he looked like a little boy without worry or agendas. His pale skin smoothed out as color pumped through his veins, coloring white to the palest pink.

He reminded Percy of that other little boy, the one who jumped up and down and smiled too much — the old Nico di Angelo who annoyed him to death. He also came to realize that Nico looked more like Hades than he had realized. They had the same shaped eyes, mouth, ears, high cheeks, same jaw line. They all seemed to be hidden when Nico was awake.

"He actually looks peaceful, for once," Rachel commented. Then she frowned in bemusement. "And not alive."

That comment made Annabeth check for Nico's pulse; his heart was beating at its regular pace.

"That's a rare moment," Conner said. "I remember he always looked like that when he was in the Hermes cabin. Every time he went to sleep, he looked like he was dead, but still lifelike."

Travis nodded. "We used to think a corpse was around when we saw him," he added. "That should have tipped us off about his father, but Hades having kids never occurred to us."

"Because of the Big Three's oath?" Neville asked curiously.

Thalia nodded. "Percy and I are results of that broken oath," she said. "Nico and his older sister Bianca weren't."

Luna looked at Nico's sleeping form and then at Percy. "I think I know how he's lived this long," she said. "Is it okay if I talk about it?"

Hermione sat forward eagerly. "You do? How?"

Luna looked for Annabeth's permission. Annabeth looked at Percy and Grover who both nodded at her. "Go on, Luna," Annabeth said.

Luna smiled. "The Lotus Hotel," she said. "Nico lived there, didn't he? That's why he doesn't like Vegas, isn't it?" The Greeks stared at her, stunned.

Hermione's spoon dropped to her plate. "Oh my god," she said softly. "That makes sense... And I didn't pick it up..."

Annabeth drank from her glass of water and looked at Luna. "How did you figure it out?"

Luna tore off a small piece of her vege pizza and said, "Well, when I was feeding Nico, and he was falling asleep, it slipped out."

"And he mentioned something about Darrin Reeves," Ginny spoke up, remembering that Nico had muttered that during the last chapter. "He must have been talking about 'Disco Darrin.'"

Hermione stared at Nico's sleeping form in surprise. That was so obvious now. Why he got upset about them going to Vegas... Why, as soon as they read about it, he had an outburst... Nico was asleep now, and he couldn't answer everything. Or anything for that matter.

"We can't wake him up," Grover said, sensing her thoughts through her emotions. "He needs rest."

"But how did he get in there?" Hermione asked.

"Hades put him and his sister there after his mother died," Percy said, remembering the dream he had about Maria di Angelo's death. "It was a way to protect them from Zeus. He wasn't very pleased that Hades had them."

"He broke the oath too?" George asked.

"No, they were born before the oath," Percy said, sighing. "It's a long story."

"We have time," Harry said.

Percy frowned and looked at Nico's sleeping form. "I think it would be better if Nico explained, not us," he said. "I don't think he'll like us talking about it behind his back."

Hermione looked like she wanted to protest when Harry cleared his throat. He look he gave her made it clear that he agreed with Percy. "I don't think I would like it if people talked behind my back," Harry said softly. "Everyone does it, and I hate it."

Hermione closed her mouth, looking both sheepish and ashamed. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said. "I just hate when thing are unresolved or unsolved."

"I know that, Hermione," Harry said. "But give it a rest, just this time. Until Nico wants to talk about it."

Nico coughed in his sleep, and a soft moan escaped his lips. Luna thought it sounded vague like a lullaby. "What do you think he's dreaming?" she asked.

"Only he knows, Luna," Ginny said softly. A minute later, a small tear crept up in the corner of Nico's eye and streaked down to his hair. "And it take it that it's not good."

"_Sono m-morti..._" Nico mumbled, turning to sleep on his side again. "_B-Bianca-a mi ... ha las-sciato... Sono ... s-sempre solo... Essi l-l-lascian-no semp-pre..._"

"What's he saying?" Ron asked.

"Percy's not the only one who talks in his sleep," Conner said, sitting forward. "I forgot he did that every now and then when he stayed in the Hermes cabin. Bette said it was irritating. It wasn't that often either. What's he saying?"

"I think it's Italian," Hermione said. "I don't know Italian. What about you, Percy?"

"Huh?" Percy Jackson said. "I don't speak Italian."

Perce rolled his eyes. "She was talking to _me_, Jackson," he said. The Greek Percy blushed. "And Italian isn't one of my language subjects. I barely know that many phrases and words. Besides, he's mumbling. I can't translate mumbles very well."

"I've never really heard him speak Italian before," Travis said. "That's so weird."

"I don't think he wants to," Rachel said slowly. "Wasn't his mother Italian, Percy?"

Percy nodded. "She was," he said. "Did Bianca ever speak Italian?"

Grover nodded. "Yeah, at the military school that they went to," he said. "Whenever Nico did something wrong, she'd give him a firm talking to. She'd go in and out of Italian a lot, sometimes speaking English before reverting to Italian. Nico used to do it too."

The Brits didn't even bother to ask him how he knew that. They were too busy trying to hear what Nico was saying. Hermione was busy trying to figure out what year Nico was in. She knew when the oath was made; it was around a war, wasn't it? Didn't Nico say he was from a period when a war reined?

"I've never heard him that way before," Percy said, frowning. Nico mumbled something else that was incoherent.

"Why would he tell us something in Italian when we don't know what he's saying?" Grover asked. "Greek, perhaps, but Italian seems to be a family trait. You're not direct family with him."

"But we're still family..." Percy muttered. "He's like a little brother to me next to Tyson..."

The conversation had gone downhill and now everyone was eating in silence again. Nico twisted and turned every now and then, muttering a few words in English — none of which made sense — and Italian. Some Japanese came up now and then, and the Stolls couldn't help but mimic the words out of boredom.

Soon, Perce got up and started to repair the ruined furniture. The other wizards got to help him. They removed the burns, repaired the rips and tears in the fabrics of the couches, they fixed the lighting fixtures, the carpet (they left the area around Nico alone) the floors and the walls until everything was clean and renewed. The demigods watched in amazement at their work. Rachel and Annabeth got up to study how the magic that Hermione and Ginny performed did its work with great fascination. Some people, like the Stolls, Grover, and Percy, stayed out of their way.

Half an hour passed before all the work was complete, and after a few more discussions about how the spells and wand movements worked, they were back on the couches, waiting for Nico to wake up.

Soon the demigods started to get restless. They snacked on the remaining selections of their lunches, some more reappearing in its place, and soon they started pacing around the room, agitated that there was nothing else to do. Thalia had it the worst, seeing that she couldn't get up. Eventually they all couldn't stand it.

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked. "I don't think we can read while he is sleeping. And because Thalia's stuck, we can't go anywhere."

The demigods sat down, trying to think up a topic. Conner twirled a wand in his hands, examining in curiously. He caught Ron glaring and sheepishly returned in ("I'm not anywhere near them! How do they keep getting this?" Ron grumbled to Hermione) before leaning against Travis's shoulder, not knowing what else to do.

Thalia suddenly sat up. "We can talk about Percy's dream," she spoke up. "I'd still like to know how I got in a straitjacket."

Rachel laughed. "Lovely conversation," she said.

Thalia sighed. "Do you have anything better?"

Rachel thought about it and then she shook her head so her red curls bounced everywhere. "I got nothing."

Perce looked thoughtful. "Thalia, you said you had demigod dreams as a tree, right?" he asked. Then he grimaced. "I'm a wizard and that sentence still sounds odd."

George snorted. "Embrace imagination, it'll help," he said.

Perce tried not to glare. "That was never my strong point," he said.

Ginny giggled. "That's why we called you bookish, boring, pompous Percy," she said. Then her expression turned serious. "Really Percy, open up more. It really does help."

Perce looked exasperated. "Fine, I will!"

Travis looked at their interaction and snickered. "Bookish, boring, pompous Percy?" he asked. "If it was Jackson you were talking about, I'd have thought you'd gone mad!"

Everyone burst into laughter — which somehow didn't wake Nico — as Percy Jackson pouted and glared. "Hilarious, you guys," he grumbled. "Aren't we off topic."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Well, yes, I did get demigod dreams," Thalia said. "My spirit must have retained enough of itself for that. I used to see kids at camp, what they did. I saw how happy Annabeth to be accepted by her siblings, and how Luke" — she managed not to grimace — "used to look after his younger siblings." Conner and Travis glowered at the floor. "Among other things. I just had mixed images. As a tree, I think I could sense what was going on around me. Whenever a threat came around, I could will myself to hold it back. I had the power to do it and keep the camp safe."

"You did," Annabeth said. "Monsters couldn't come in from the outside unless they were summoned."

Thalia smiled. "I don't know how to explain _that_," she said. "Maybe Dad gave my that power in death. I'm not sure. But it always seemed so — peaceful. I didn't have to run from danger, or fight. I used to fall into other demigod's dreams by accident. Maybe that was how I got to Percy's. Distance never seemed to be an issue."

"That would make sense," Percy said. "I've even had dreams that where from the past."

"Really?" Neville asked. "What's that like?"

Percy shrugged. "One time I was looking through the eyes of the person at that time," he said. "His thoughts felt like mine. Other times it feels like I'm just standing there, watching, and having no ability to do anything else than watch."

"That's happened to me," Thalia said. "It's annoying."

"My dreams aren't anything like that," Harry said. "They are always so mixed up. There were times when I could see through — another person's eyes, but those were more like visions."

Harry looked grim just by saying that. He had hated looking through Voldemort's eyes. Besides the fact that it caused him pain, the very thought of being able to see his perspective and know all that went on in his head still unnerved Harry. He was grateful that the connection was gone for good. Harry was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that Thalia had returned to her part of the conversation.

"—Then... one day I started to get sick. My powers started to weaken and I felt like I was shutting down," she said. She looked at Nico. "If you were awake, you could have been some help here." No answer.

"What do you mean 'sick'?" Ginny asked.

Travis groaned, remembering how hard life had been with Thalia's tree hadn't been able to protect them. "Thalia's tree was dying," he said. "It's a long story, but — someone poisoned it." He was careful not to say Luke. "After it was healed, Thalia was able to come back."

"Goodbye peaceful life," Thalia said, smirking.

Ron looked confused. "How did you come back?" he asked.

"Magic," Thalia replied. "Well, a certain type of magic that healed the tree. It healed me too and I was able to come back."

"That's the year after this quest," Percy said. "So your futures are still intact."

Ginny grinned. "Good to know." Then she sighed. "Are we out of subjects again?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so... Harry, do YOU have anything to say?" she asked waspishly.

Harry didn't look at her. "No, not really."

Ron looked back and forth between them, looking confused. "Have you two been talking without me again?" he asked.

"No," Harry said before Hermione could answer. "It's nothing, Ron."

Hermione glared at him. "Harry Potter, you—"

"I said, it's _nothing!_" Harry said through gritted teeth.

Neville frowned and looked at Ginny. She shrugged and looked back at Hermione and Harry. "What are you two talking about?"

Hermione looked at her. "It's about Harry's relation—"

"It's nothing, Ginny," Harry said quickly. "No, really, Hermione's being stubborn on something, but—"

"I'm the one being stubborn?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's rich coming from you."

Ginny looked at them suspiciously. "This is about my dating Harry, and him breaking up with me, isn't it?" she asked, making her question sound like a statement. Harry grimaced and sunk down in his seat while Hermione looked triumphant. Ron's ears had turned red as he focused his eyes on his hands.

The Greeks sat up in surprise. "You and Harry are dating?" Rachel asked with wide eyes.

"_Were_ dating," Hermione corrected.

Travis gaped at Harry. "You _were_ dating Ginny and you broke up?" he asked. Harry nodded. "And you're sitting next to her this whole time?"

Harry and Ginny glared at him and back up a few feet. Thalia grinned and said, "So that's why the two of you are so awkward around each other..."

Harry blushed. "It was that obvious?"

"I didn't notice," Ron said, looking at Harry and then at Ginny.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "THAT was obvious, Ron," she said. "You didn't even notice him going starry-eyed over her in Sixth Year."

Ginny hid a smile as Harry turn beet red. "Hermione!" he exclaimed, trying to ignore everyone else's sniggers.

Hermione gave him an innocent look. "What? It's the truth," she said.

"That doesn't mean you have to tell everyone!" Harry said, wishing he could crawl into a hole and die of shame.

"Oh grow up!" Hermione giggled. "You're nearly eighteen."

"What happened between you two?" Annabeth asked.

Harry didn't answer. This was definitely not a conversation he wanted to have now. He didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone. It was a personal matter. He wanted to be mad at Hermione for bringing it up, but now, all he wanted to do was just leave and get some air. It was times like this that he wished he had his invisibility cloak.

"Mr. Noble left me for my own good," Ginny said, looking at the side of Harry's face, which was still angled towards the floor. "I've been trying to talk to about that for a month now. Are you avoiding me?"

"Uh, no," Harry muttered.

"_Uh_, yes," Hermione corrected him. Then she looked at her boyfriend. "Do you want to tell your sister what happened?"

Ron's ears turned red as he stared at the floor. "Um..."

"Did you say something, Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I... um... I may have told—uh—I sort of—um—" Ron babbled.

Ginny groaned. "Will someone spit it out, please!"

"I can't ... date you again," Harry said, closing his eyes. "Well, sort of... um... Ron?"

"I got nothing," Ron said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "_Somehow_ you two are brave enough to run into _fights_, but when relationships come into the picture, your bravery vanishes," she muttered. Harry and Ron would have glared at her but they knew she was right. Ron had chickened out on Hermione too many times, and had eventually hurt her when he went out with Lavender. Harry wasn't any better. He had screwed up with Cho, and was awkward with other girls—except for Ginny.

Neville whistled, looking uncomfortable. "I'm going to take a walk," he said, getting up.

"I'll join you," the other guys, besides the Weasleys, Harry, Thalia and Nico said, getting up to go to the rest of the common room. Luna and Rachel got up to join them. Hermione and Ginny prevented Ron and Harry from joining them, leaving the four of them, plus Annabeth, Thalia, Perce, and George in the reading area with a sleeping Nico.

"So what's this I hear about Harry not being able to date me?" Ginny asked, folding her arms.

"Long story," Harry said, heat creeping up in his ears.

Hermione sighed. "We have time, in case you didn't know," she said.

Thalia nodded. "And besides, if we can't do anything else, what the heck?" She tried to move again but failed. "I wish we had a radio in here. I need music."

It took some coaxing, but the story finally got out: how Harry had broken up with Ginny, then how Ron had been an overpotective brother and convinced Harry to promise to stay away from Ginny after a birthday kiss; how Harry's loyalty to their friendship kept him tied to the promise.

For the whole time, Ginny didn't move or say anything. Annabeth and Thalia didn't say anything either. Nico didn't wake up the entire time. George and Percy Weasley were just as mute as the girls. Those who had left were eavesdropping from a long distance, but they were also pretending that they weren't paying attention.

Finally, Ginny took a deep breath. "Ronald Bilius Weasley," she said civilly. "I'll give you a five minute head start to run, after which ... I will hunt you down, and I will kill you."

Thalia stifled a laugh at Ron's expression. "Ginny, I was just trying to protect—" he started but Ginny's furious glare shut him up. He found it eerie how much it reminded him of Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron, I thought I established this in fifth year," she said. "Well, my fifth year, your sixth... It is NONE of your business whom I date, or who dates me! That includes Harry."

Ron glared at her. "Ginny, you came home and hardly spoke after it happened!" he snapped. Harry looked ashamed of himself but a look from Hermione stopped him from apologizing.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Ron, use your brain!" she said angrily. "I'd just come from a funeral! I was grieving. I recall you didn't talk much either, and that was a small miracle itself."

George and the Stolls snickered at that, but they shut up when Hermione cleared her throat.

"But you were upset about—" Ron began, but Ginny cut him off.

"What? Did you expect me to be _happy_ about it?" she asked, looking at him in disbelief. "You listen to me right now, Ron. It's not your job to protect me! I'm am not a fragile baby sister who needs to be looked after every other day of the week. I'm sixteen, almost seventeen! I can handle myself. I don't need you interfering!"

"You're _my_ little sister," he said. "I don't want anything to happen to you!"

Ginny sighed. "You're not my only big brother, Ron," she said. "There's you, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, F—" she choked on Fred's name. He's wasn't there to be protective anymore, not that he was hugely protective before... She shook her head. "Look. Harry didn't kiss me that day, I kissed him. You shouldn't have forced him to make that promise. Plus, if one of my older brothers are going to be protective in that department, I'd prefer it to be Bill."

Ron looked surprised. "He wouldn't do anything unless the guy was a git," he said, looking bemused.

"Exactly," Ginny said, trying not to grin. "And Harry isn't." Then her expression turned serious. "Ron, if you ever do this again, Hermione will have to get a new boyfriend. Do you understand?"

A few sniggers erupted from the eavesdroppers, but they all pretended that it wasn't them when Ginny and Harry turned to look at them. "We're not stupid you guys," Thalia called. "Get over here, now!"

Reluctantly, the other readers returned to their former seats. Harry took a deep breath and stood up. "Ginny, can I speak to you?"

* * *

Vena looked at the readers as she went to get herself a drink. Ron was on the verge of following Harry and Ginny up the staircase towards their rooms. He was sure Harry wouldn't try anything up there with her, but he didn't like the idea of them being alone around bedrooms. George and Percy Weasley shared his thoughts, but they knew Ginny could hold her own.

Vena knew that Harry only wanted to talk to her. She turned her eye towards them, but kept her hearing range partly on the other readers.

* * *

Harry walked down to the very end of the corridor with Ginny until they were standing by the window out looking the lawn. He was oddly reminded of when he and Ginny had been in her room just before they'd kissed on his birthday.

For a moment, there was only silence between them. Then Ginny sighed and looked up at him.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about now," she started, keeping her expression blank, "or are you going to tell me to drop the subject and move on?"

Harry's face hardened. "Ginny, I wasn't trying to hurt you," he stated firmly. "I just didn't know what to do."

Ginny huffed. "Did you know that _talking_ is an option?" she asked, her eyes locked on his eyes. "Because I did. Even if you intended to keep your word to Ron, I think I had the right to know about this, not being kept in the dark!"

Harry pulled his gaze away from her and looked out the window. "I didn't know what to say to you," he said.

Ginny looked exasperated. "How about '_Hi Ginny! You remember me? I'm your brother's best mate and your ex-boyfriend! Well, you see, now that Voldemort's dead, I can finally be with you, but Ron told me I can't, so, see you!_' Even _that_ would have been better than nothing."

Harry frowned. "I'd hurt you already, I didn't want to make it worse!" he said angrily.

"That would have hurt Harry, but not as much as _this!_" Ginny said, growing furious. "I understand that you will probably never share everything that goes on in your life with me, and that's okay, but something like _this_ shouldn't be kept from me! You know why, because it _concerns_ me too! I've tried, again and again since the war to talk to you, and every single time, you avoided me. You made excuses. In the beginning, I didn't fuss. We all needed time to grieve. But afterwards, you started to do it deliberately. _That_ hurt me, Harry! _That_ did!"

"I'm sorry," Harry imputed, before she could start talking again. "Do you think this is what I want? It's not, Ginny! What do you expect me to do?"

Ginny sighed and turned away from him. "I understood why you left me, Harry," Ginny said softly. "I didn't need an explanation because I knew that you had a job to destroy Voldemort. I didn't complain because I supported you, whether you knew that or not. I thought that after the war ended that you _might_ give me another chance. It wasn't on bad terms that we broke up, relationship-wise, and I knew there was a possibility that you _wouldn't_ want me again. I respected that. It would have just been better if you said it to me up front and not in a room filled with people who have nothing to do with it."

Harry bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Ginny," he muttered. "I'm so, so sorry..."

Ginny wouldn't look at him. She chose to stare at the wall to keep herself calm. There were two options running through her head: Option one basically let her slap Harry and then jinx Ron to the moon. Option two would break her down in tears if she looked at Harry in the eyes. She didn't notice that Harry walked around her until her sight was obscured by the image of his chest in front of her.

Ginny would have moved, but she couldn't. She didn't trust herself to be civil at that moment. She fixed her eyes on the textiles of Harry's gray shirt, determined not to look up. Harry wouldn't let her stick to that because he brought up his hand to cup her chin. His right hand was scarred with old burns and scraps but somehow retailed a gentleness that Harry only ever used with her.

"Please look at me," he pleaded in a low, gentle voice. "I really am sorry."

Ginny tried not to, yet she couldn't fight him when he tilted her up to look at him. Harry's expression was pained and confused. Ginny was sure that her poker face was cracking around the edges as her eyes met his. Her heart weighed in her chest at the memories that poured into her head at the sight: stolen kisses between classes, talking throughout lunches and dinners, walks around the school grounds, flying around the quidditch pitch together. Everything that was sweet, that made her happy, rose to the surface.

Harry was so close to Ginny that she could feel his warm breath wash against the side of her cheek. Oh, how she wanted to kiss him...

But then she remembered that he didn't deserve a kiss. She was still upset with him, not just Ron. She fought her urge to press her lips against his and looked him right in the eyes. His green orbs pierced her soul, rooting her to the spot where she stood. They reflected every hardship, every loss, the pain of war, the pain of love—they showed her everything that made Harry, Harry.

"It's going to take a little more than sorry," she said softly. "And you know it."

Harry's eyes snapped away from her and he straightened up. "I know," he said, looking out of the window. "I'm not good at this, Ginny."

Ginny shook her head and pursed her lips. "Well, I thought you knew and trusted me enough not to fear saying whatever it is you could possibly say," she said. "We were dating, after all. If you don't know what to say now, I won't force to you think of anything." She started to walk down the hallway, fighting the tears the entire time.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, following her.

Ginny stopped and looked at him. "Back to the common room," she said, a lump forming in her throat. "The others are waiting for us."

Harry grabbed Ginny's arm and stopped her from marching down the staircase. "Ginny, I ... I—"

Ginny rested her index finger on his lips. "Don't, Harry," she said, shaking her head. "Just _don't._ It's obvious that you aren't going to do anything about this, so I'm leaving. That's that. If you _ever_ do realize that you have something to say, get back to me and let me know. But for now, just—don't."

She didn't even wait for a reply. She forced her feet to walk to the staircase and stomp on each individual step. She didn't look back, nor did she look at anyone as she walked into the common room. She walked right up to her old seat and was about to sit down when she remembered that Harry sat next to her. She bit her lower lip and thought hard.

Neville seemed to sense her dilemma. At Hogwarts, he, Luna, and Ginny worked together more than they had before. They had all developed a bond and friendship. They became their own leadership group that the D.A. members referred to as the "Silver Trio", after the initial "Golden Trio", which was Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Neville had to learn Ginny's expressions because there were times when she couldn't say what she wanted to, or she didn't know the exact words to form, so he need to "translate", in a way. Luna was much better at it than him—Merlin, she had to teach him—but he could still catch onto the smallest hints of whatever was bothering her.

He knew that it was her seat that bothered her. It was right next to Harry.

'_Uh, you want to sit next to George?_' he mouthed to her.

Ginny sent him a grateful look and nodded. He moved around and sat in her seat so that she could take him next to George, who in turn looked slight surprised to see his sister next to him. No one had to ask about what had happened with Harry. That little act had made it obvious. When Harry returned to the room, he didn't look very surprised to see Neville there. He glanced at Ginny, but when she didn't look at him, he sat down next to Ron, knitted his hands together and stared a spot on the floor near Neville's head. Their expressions screamed "I don't want to talk about it."

Everyone knew better than to say anything about it. Ron said nothing because Hermione wouldn't let him. The Stolls looked like they wanted to say something—probably a joke of something along those lines—but one stern glance from the female demigods and the Oracle kept their mouths shut. Percy looked sympathetic. He knew was it was like to be in a disagreement with a girl.

"So, what did you guys talk about?" Ginny asked. "While we were gone?"

Rachel sighed. "Nothing much," she said. "We were all waiting for you two to come back."

Conner yawned. "_Eímai_ _kourasménos_," he muttered.

"What?" George asked, confused.

Travis smirked. "He said he's tired," he translated.

"What else would I be?" he asked. "There is nothing to do here."

Perce nodded. "Yes, and we can't have that chess game for Ron and Hermione because we have no chess set here."

* * *

Apollo stood by the window, looking up at the sky. He was tired from—being with Anastasie. She was sleeping at the moment, but he couldn't sleep. He had tried, but the minute he closed his eyes, a familiar, old melody rang through his head.

"_In—your—eyes, there's only loving affections_," it hummed softly in the back on his head. "_My heart beats—to a rhythm purely divine. I will sing—from dear morning to dusk to forever... Just to see—your own beautiful smile again_."

After that, he couldn't sleep. He should have known it would come to bite him, being in Paris and thinking of that night with Vena. Looking at Anastasie, he felt guilty. Normally, he didn't feel that way unless Vena was in the picture somehow. Like now.

"She's going to kill me," he muttered to himself. "Not her father. Her!"

A pigeon landed on the window sill and looked at him, hooting. Apollo gulped and looked up towards the ceiling. "Okay, I'm sorry for saying that!" he directed at Vena.

* * *

Twenty minutes passed, and after talking about what Camp Half-Blood had when it came to their fun activities, as well as the clubs at Hogwarts, they were all bored again. Nico slept through it all. Percy remembered that Nico had once told him that he had passed out for a week just from shadow travelling. How long was he going to sleep now?

"What time is it?" he asked.

Neville checked for the time. "It's 2:45 in the afternoon," he informed him.

"Wow," Travis said. "Nearly three hours. I could never sleep that long in the day unless I was drugged."

There was another moment of silence for them. Neither group really wanted to talk about their lives to the other group or even to each other. After another five minutes of pure silence, Travis got to his feet.

"I'll be in my room," he said. "I'd rather watch Rush Hour again. The only reason I stayed down here was to see if Nico would wake up, and so far, that isn't happening."

Annabeth stood up. "Wait, watch Rush Hour?" she asked. "You have a television up there?"

Travis nodded. "Is that a problem?" he asked.

Annabeth frowned. "Who else does?" she asked. Conner and Rachel raised their hands.

"That's not fair!" Percy and Thalia exclaimed, looking shocked and scandalized. "How come I can't have one!"

Travis shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Anyway, I'm out."

Annabeth stopped Conner from joining him before pulled Travis to a stop. "You guys can't leave," she said.

"Why not?" Conner asked. "We're not _obligated_ to stay here."

"Actually, you are," Annabeth said. "We're supposed to stay here until Nico wakes up."

The Stolls looked unimpressed by her answer. Annabeth only frightened them when she had a weapon aimed at them, or when she was beyond furious. Other than that, they were usually unaffected.

"Annabeth, the kid's asleep," Travis said. "And we're bored. So, we're going."

"Guys, no arguing," Rachel imputed. "Annabeth said you have to stay. So you have to stay."

The Stolls would have argued. Actually, they _did_ argue. For ten minutes they bickered with the others, begging and pleading to leave for a while. Harry and Grover honestly thought it would be best if they went for a while; they were starting to annoy them.

"Fine, we'll stay!" Conner snapped. "We've already wasted time here. Why not more?"

There was no persuading Annabeth. She knew that they all should leave, but she had a feeling that they shouldn't separate. She couldn't explain it, but she wasn't very trustful of this place.

"I'm bored," Conner said. "There's nothing to talk about."

"We can talk about you all annoying us," Thalia suggested to them nonchalantly.

Travis glared. "No, we're not going to talk about that!" he snapped.

"Then what are we supposed to talk about?" Ginny asked.

"Per-perhaps how you p-people are annoying _m-me!_" Nico yawned, stretching at arm up in the air. "A guy can't sleep in—in peace around h-here." He yawned widely and blinked his eyes several times. "How long have I been out?"

"Hey," Rachel cheerful. "Look who's up!"

Percy grinned and came to kneel next to Nico. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?"

Nico grinned weakly. "Uh, I'm not sure," he said. "I can't feel my legs, my arms are sore, and did someone trample me while I was sleeping?"

Percy chuckled without humor. "What some ambrosia?"

"Please," Nico said, trying to sit up. A cry of pain sent him back to the floor. "Well...getting up is out."

Percy broke up the ambrosia into little pieces and helped Nico to tilt his head up while Rachel came to help him eat it. Once that was done, Nico was able to move his feet around and prop himself up on his elbows, but he was still stuck on the ground.

"What'd I miss?" Nico asked.

"Lunch," Neville replied. "You've been sleeping for a little over three hours."

Nico's eyebrows shot up. "Three hours?" he asked. "Wow, the last time this happened, it was a whole day."

Thalia frowned. "This happened before?"

Nico nodded. "In the Underworld, but it wasn't this powerful." He looked around the room. "I see that the damage is fixed up."

"Thanks to the wizards," Annabeth said. "Are you still tired?"

Nico shrugged—or at least he tried to. "Mostly sore, but I feel better after a nap," he said.

Percy smirked. "With great power, comes great need to take a nap," he said, quote what Nico had said when he was at the River Styx.

Nico burst into laughter and blushed. "I can't believe you remembered that," he said. "I must have been delirious to say that."

"You were tired," Percy corrected.

Nico chuckled and shook his head. "Did you guys read anything?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, we didn't," she said. "We were waiting for you to wake up. Since you can't get up, neither can Thalia, so we're stuck here for a while."

Nico nodded before frowning. "What happened in the last chapter again?" he asked.

"The Lotus Hotel," Grover said. "And um, Nico, Luna heard you mutter something you remembered from your stay there, so they know now."

Nico groaned and flattened his small body on the ground. "You do?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, we do," she said. "How long were you in there?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Nico asked. "I was born before the oath that was made in World War II. It's not that hard to figure out that I've been in there for nearly seven decades, minus a few years."

Hermione sighed. "I came to that conclusion while we were waiting, but I wanted you to confirm that," she said. "How old were you when you went in?"

"Around nine or ten," Nico said. "I don't remember, to be honest. The magic of the hotel short-circuited my memory. I've never remembered my mother's face until recently."

Neville winced. "How did you live with that?"

Nico frowned. "I got used to it," he said. "I wish I could remember her, but it's hard. Bianca doesn't struggle with that. She knows it all now."

"Then why doesn't she help you remember?" Perce asked. "If she could, why can't you?"

Nico gulped. "She can't," he said. "And I don't really want to find out the way she did, to be honest. Let's leave it at that." Nico looked disgruntled and sad; that prevented the others from asking him any further questions.

"So, now that we've established that Nico's at grandpa age, what do we do now?" George asked. That brought up a few grins.

Nico glared at him. "Thanks, George."

Percy snorted. "Now we just have to find a way to get him off the floor," he said. "Something's still holding him down."

Nico grimaced and tried to get up. He winced in pain but he still continued to try. Then, visible enough for all of them to see, a silvery cord shimmered into existence and tugged Nico back down to the ground next to Thalia. Annabeth knelt as his side immediately and examined it. It was made of silver light, nothing that she could physically remove with her hands, or even cut with Rachel's knife. It was semi-transparent but strong enough to hold Nico into place.

"Thalia, try to get up," she said. Thalia raised an eyebrow that clearly said '_You're kidding me, right?_' Annabeth sighed. "Just try!"

Thalia sighed and shuffled around to that she was on her knees. "At least I can move around now," she muttered, but when she tried to stand up, silvery cord shot up around her arms and legs and tugged her back to the ground next to Nico.

Rachel came to examine the cords. "I think it's weakening," she said. "It was invisible before, but now you can see it."

"And I can move," Thalia said. "That must mean that Nico is getting better."

Perce went to kneel next to her and tried to touch the core. His fingers slipped through it so he pulled his wand out from his pocket and used it to prod the cord. After five minutes, he sat up and frowned.

"It's definitely weakening," he said. He checked out Nico's cords. "So are these. That's a good sign."

Thalia sighed with relief. "Thank the gods for that!" she exclaimed. "My leg was starting to fall asleep over here."

"Can you counteract it?" Harry asked.

Perce shook his head. "No, it's still powerful," he said. "It's not that weak. But you two can move around more."

"I think a god could fix it," Rachel said after some thought on Perce's words. "The only god who comes around here is—"

"Apollo," Percy finished. "Rachel, you're his Oracle. Can you call him?"

"I can try," Rachel said. "But you have to note that Apollo isn't always here. I think he was earlier, but his presence is gone now."

Harry frowned. "Where'd he go?"

"To his work," Rachel said. "He has to drive the sun, after all. There are other tasks he does as well, some of them personal—" She cut herself off, not really wanting to talk about what personal 'tasks' Apollo had on earth, but Thalia, being a hunter of Artemis, caught onto her drift.

"So there's a chance that while we're stuck, he's all _flirty_ with a girl?" Thalia asked, disgusted. "Why do you want to be patroned by him, again?"

Rachel ignored her and tried to contact Apollo, but she was certain that he wasn't close by. Like she thought, he didn't answer, even when she prayed. So she turned to contact Vena instead.

* * *

Vena finished off her cheesecake and paced around her kitchen. Chaos had not yet removed his shackles off of Nico and Thalia, the latter who had only been shackled by accident. Vena couldn't undo her father's work. She had to leave them alone, though she didn't like it. She had to wait to be contacted by one of the readers: Rachel. She was only one of them who knew about her besides the Percy and Harry, who were only vaguely informed about her.

To pass the time, Vena pushed herself to do her duties on earth with the mortals. She checked up on the British wizards in their _current_ forms. Harry Potter was at the Ministry of Magic, standing next to Minister Shacklebolt who was making an announcement to the Wizarding Community. Hermione Weasley and Ginny Potter were at the Potter Manor looking after James, Albus, Lily, Rose, and Hugo. Twinkle, the Potters' house-elf, was busy playing tag with Lily and Hugo while Hermione and Ginny cooked lunch.

Lucy and Freddie Weasley were busy on their latest playing-card experiment, and were planning to have them explode on Percy Weasley's feet. Teddy Lupin was playing with Victoire Weasley, but when she giggled, he tripped (mostly on nothing) and fell down. Vena couldn't help but laugh at that. She looked over at Ron who was helping George out in his Joke Shop. Neville was talking to his wife, Hannah Longbottom. Luna was working on a herbology experiment with her co-worker, Rolf Scamander.

Vena smiled. She looked back at the readers and bit back a giggle. They had no clue what was going on in their lives at the moment. She had pulled them from the past, and to the past would she put them back without them knowing all this.

Vena's thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of Rachel Dare trying to contact her. "_Vena, are you there?_" Rachel's voice asked in Vena's head.

"Sure, Rachel," Vena replied, knowing exactly why Rachel contacted her. "Let me guess, you want me to remove Nico's cords?"

"_That would be nice_," Rachel said.

Vena sighed. "My father is tying him down right now," Vena said. "I was out when it happened and he stepped in. Only he can remove it by force, not me. They are created from his power, not mine."

Rachel groaned. "_Is there another option?_" she asked.

Vena had already figured that out, but she had been waiting for Rachel to ask. "The cords only hold Nico down if he is in pain," she said. "I can call Apollo to heal him. I would have before, but he was—busy. Still is, actually."

Rachel sighed. "_He's on a date, isn't he?_"

Vena rolled her eyes. "Oh, I think he's past the dating part."

"_Ew_," Rachel replied, wrinkling her nose. "_I didn't need to know that_."

Vena laughed. "Me neither. Okay, times running out today," she said. "I'll call him. Expect his arrival somewhere after ten minutes."

"_Okay_," Rachel said. "_Hey, how come you couldn't have done it earlier?_"

Vena smiled. "I wasn't supposed to, Rachel," she said. "I can't mess with fate. I'm bound by laws here, made by my father. I can only act when I'm supposed to."

* * *

Rachel opened her eyes. "Apollo isn't anywhere on Star, but I think he'll show up in approximately ten minutes."

"How do you know that?" Conner asked.

"I'm the Oracle," Rachel said, as though that explained everything.

Travis groaned. "So we have to wait more?" he asked, fidgeting. "I'm already restless as it is."

Percy rolled his eyes. "We all are," he said. "Stupid ADHD."

Ginny looked up at Harry but he seemed determined not to look at her. Hermione mouthed, '_We need to talk about what happened with you and Harry_.'

'_Tonight_,' Ginny mouthed back.

So they started to wait for when Apollo would turn up. Nico sighed and fiddled around his long nimble fingers, twisting them in patterns that made people gape. The way he positioned his little finger under his ring finger to touch his index should have hurt. And the way he twisted his thumb around should have been impossible. Or how he twisted his fingers from both hands to mimic knot patterns. Nico didn't look bothered by it. Whenever one finger slipped out of place, he'd get frustrated and stick it back like it was spaghetti, not a finger.

"Will you stop that, it's gross," Rachel said.

"Fine," Nico muttered, not looking at her. After a minute, he got bored. He looked at his left hand and then started to use his thumb to crack his other fingers individually. He did the same for the other hand.

Annabeth grimaced in disgust. "Nico, don't do that!" she said.

Nico looked at her before using his index and middle fingers to crack his thumbs. "Why?"

Annabeth smacked her forehead and muttered, "Never mind."

Ron gaped. "Doesn't that hurt?" Ron asked.

Nico shook his head. "Nope," he replied. "What hurts is my spine. My fingers, not so much. They actually feel more flexible." He looked ready to trying tangling his fingers into knots again, but a glare from Rachel stopped him. Then she stopped the Stolls from trying to mimic his actions.

Ten minutes came and went, and yet Apollo hadn't arrived just yet.

"I thought you said he'd be here in ten minutes," Travis said, looking at Rachel.

"I said approximately," Rachel corrected. "Not exactly."

Percy sighed. "He's taking forever."

Nico grinned at him. "That's the ADHD talking Percy," he said. "Besides, it feels quite comfortable here. I'm okay with reading like this."

Thalia glared at him. "I'm not!" she snapped. "I want to get up!"

Nico blushed. "Oh, I forgot about you," he said sheepishly. Thalia looked incredulously at him. "Don't give me that look."

Thalia bit back a retort and stared out to window to see the sky change colors again. They all waited. And waited. And waited. Five more minutes passed and no one showed up. Not even an ant decided to make an appearance.

Percy started to kick his feet impatiently. "Apollo! If you're out there, get in here!"

Annabeth looked shocked. "Percy, don't talk that way," she scolded. "Apollo's one of the gods who actually likes you!"

Percy ignored her. "I know you're out there, Apollo!" he said, staring at the ceiling. "Wherever that may be!"

Rachel shook her head. "I don't think that's going to w—"

A bright light flashed in front of the fireplace. Instinctively, everyone shielded their eyes in shock. When the light was gone, standing before them was a tall, handsome blond teenager with sky blue eyes, fair smooth skin, and charming smile, and a phone in his hand. He looked around at the readers very calmly before letting his eyes fall on Percy.

"So you finally decided to ask for help," he said. "And it wasn't from Annabeth. How sweet."

Percy stood up. "Very funny, Apollo," he said. "Where were you?"

Apollo's smile faltered slightly. "I was—out," he said, not looking very pleased. "Anyways, I'm back now. Thank gods, for that, because Paris wasn't very fun today—well, some parts were..."

Thalia groaned. "Some of us are stuck here—others are not well, I might add—and you're in Paris?" she asked skeptically. "No wonder Artemis doesn't like you."

Apollo pouted. "You sound like her," he said. "You hang around her too much."

Thalia rolled her eyes at her older half-brother. All the wizards except Harry gaped at Apollo in shock as he took up Nico's seat next to Rachel. The demigods were about to get up and bow to him, but Apollo waved them down, smiling.

"So," he said. "What's going on here?"

Nico coughed and raised his hand. "Uh, can I have some assistance? Please?"

"Oh!" Apollo went to kneel next to Nico and examined him. "An outburst, huh? Well, that can be taken care of. Hold still."

Apollo placed his hand gently on Nico's chest and sent a pulse of golden light into him. Ginny gasped the loudest as Nico's body was engulfed in golden light. Little sparks of godly power wrapped around him until he was completely mummified in light.

"I would have been here sooner," Apollo said, looking at the rest of them, "but I had business to attend to."

"Business?" Rachel asked skeptically. "More like you had a date."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Great, now my ORACLE sounds like my sister," he grumbled.

Rachel laughed at his expression. The light slowly faded away and Nico's body resurfaced. He was sitting up, his back straight and his breathing normal. His skin was slightly flushed and his unruly hair looked shinier. Even his eyes seemed to glow brighter.

"Any better?" Apollo asked.

"Loads," Nico said, grinning. "I can't feel pain anymore. Thank you."

"No problem, kiddo," he said. Then he looked up at the Brits. "So, these are your new friends, huh? I'm Apollo, god of the sun, prophecy, poetry. And many other titles we need not get into."

It took the wizards at least an entire minute to stop gaping at Apollo. Ginny couldn't help but think he was very handsome, and couldn't help but feel a pull towards him, not realizing that it was part of Apollo's natural charms. Harry noticed the look on her face and glared at Apollo.

'_Could you please not affect Ginny?_' Harry thought in Apollo's direction.

Apollo smirked. '_Possessive of your girlfriend, are we?_'

Harry blushed. '_She's not my girlfriend! Anymore..._'

'_We'll see_,' Apollo said, leaving Harry confused. He turned off the charm and Ginny was released from her pull. Apollo had to admire that she wasn't that attracted by looks; personality and character seemed to charm her more.

"_You're_ Apollo?" Ron asked in disbelief.

Apollo smirked. "You know, Harry said the same thing," he said. "You're a lot alike."

The Brits turned to look at Harry. He didn't meet their eyes; he was too busy frowning at Apollo. "You've met him before?" Hermione asked. "And you didn't tell us?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I wasn't supposed to," he said. "But yeah, he's Apollo."

Ron stared at him. "I don't mean to offend you, but you don't look like a god," he said

Apollo smirked. "A god can look however he wants," he said. "You've read about Dionysus. Does his appearance sound anything like a god? Nope." Then Apollo's smile froze. "_Don't—tell—him—I—said—that!_"

Thalia sniggered as she scrabbled up to her feet. Her legs wobbled from lack of blood circulation and she almost fell down. Apollo grasped her under her arms and eased her down into her old seat on the couch.

"Thanks," Thalia said, wincing from the numbness in her legs. "I'll be fine. It's happened before."

* * *

The wizards remained in shock at Apollo's sudden appearance in the common room.

It was hard to envision him as a god, especially when he attempted to recite a haiku and the Greeks screamed "NO!" before he could get the fourth word out. He even attempted to do a limerick that had everyone confused at the end, and he wouldn't stop smiling. Sure, his healing powers had been enough to prove his godliness, but there was a matter of his behavior that went with it that took away from it; he acted normally, like a regular person. Shouldn't a god be more—spectacular?

Or at least something different. It was obvious that Ares could hold his domain without anyone doubting him. Even Dionysus gave off that theme of power, but Apollo didn't seem that way. At least to Ron.

"I'm sorry, but I really can't picture you as Apollo," he said. "You look so..."

"Normal?" Apollo asked. "You should see Poseidon. You'd never guess he's a god."

"Hey!" Percy protested, glaring at Apollo. "That's my Dad you're talking about!"

Nico grinned. "Welcome to the Father Defense club," he joked.

Apollo smirked. "You know, Ron Weasley, I know exactly what you think of me," he said. "I heard the Polly bit. Two of the gods are still laughing about that, by the way." He looked sour by those words. Ron blushed as Apollo continued. "I understand that you think I'm a womanizer. Well, I admit that I have about... thirty-four demigods for Camp Half-Blood. Twenty two of them are at camp already. The others are too young to go yet."

Ron gaped. "Isn't that a little much?" he asked, his voice on a higher octave.

Apollo shrugged. "I suppose so..." He gave it a thought. "It's not as much as the last decade, I'll admit..."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't mean to offend you, sir," she said, finding it strange to call someone who looked her age 'sir', "but that's a little degrading to women. You're treating them like toys."

Apollo sighed. "Great, now SHE sounds like my sister," he muttered.

"Well, maybe you should listen to your sister," Hermione suggested indignantly.

Apollo frowned. "Maybe I would if she didn't keep shooting arrows in my butt!" he said defensively.

The Stolls snorted with laughter but they shut up when Apollo turned to look at them.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Maybe she wouldn't do that if you didn't flirt with her hunters," she said, defending her goddess.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Perhaps you should stop using the word 'maybe'," he said, looking disgruntled.

Everyone turned to look at him as he scrambled up to his feet. He had shed his black jacket so that he only wore his burgundy t-shirt and white jeans. He looked very odd without the black. Everyone had grown so used to him wearing dark colors that to see him like this was so strange. Plus, without the jacket, they could see how thin he was.

His arms were spaghetti and his stomach was caving in. The Outburst had not only drained his energy, but also his weight. Only now that he was moving around did they see the dark circles under his eyes or his hollowing cheeks. He was a living corpse standing there before him.

"Dude," Conner said, gaping. "You look like you just walked out a Tim Burton movie."

Nico grimaced. "That bad, huh?" he asked. Then his stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry."

Apollo directed him back to his old seat next to Thalia and wheeled the dining cart over to him. "Eat, now," he said. "Uncle Hades will throw me into Tartarus if he saw you like that."

Nico obeyed without hesitation. At least this time he could feed himself. As he ate away, Apollo resumed his conversation with the Brits.

"Why does it concern you so much about what goes on my life?" he asked.

Ron glared. "It's just wrong to use a girl like that," he said.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Does Won-Won ring a bell?" he asked. Ron turned red as Harry, Neville, and George started laughing. "Hypocrite, much?"

"Hey, what you do is worse!" Ron said, still blushing.

"I'm the god of bachelors," Apollo said, trying not to sound disgruntled about it. "It's sort of in my nature. Besides, I'm not allowed to be with mortal women very long due to the Ancient Laws. I'd have to leave eventually and move on."

"Sounds more like you're telling me that you run around with women and you don't care what happens," Ron said, looking upset. "I don't think that a god is supposed to be like that. You're not even acting like one. Oh, and I saw you looking at my sister earlier. Cut that out." Ginny didn't even bother to tell him to sod off. She was too busy watching a few wisps of smoke curl off the back of Apollo's head. "You know, you don't look that imitating, even for a god. I was more imitated by Dionysus, and I only know him through a book."

The room was dead silent.

Percy pulled Annabeth behind him and muttered, "And you say _I_ can piss the gods off."

Apollo glared at Ron, his blue eyes turning brilliant reddish-gold spheres, like they had been replaced with suns. His white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white reeboks melted away from his skin to be replaced with a glowing white tunic that met his knees. Golden sandals appeared on his feet, the straps lacing up his calves. A golden bow appeared in his hands while a pure gold sheath of arrows appeared on his back. His blond hair radiated brilliant light as a golden crown with a symbol of the sun at the very top, glowing with real flames.

Everyone scrambled out of their seats to avoid the heat wave around them (Nico needing some help from the Stolls). Apollo took a slow step forward, looking supremely godlike and powerful. Everyone backed away, even Ron. Apollo grew so he met a few inches above Ron's height, staring him directly in the eyes.

"Do I look like a god now?" he asked waspishly. "Or acting like one?"

Ron nodded quickly, his eyes widening with fear. Gryffindor he may be, but he wasn't invincibly brave. Even Harry looked ready to cower, but he stood up straight, trying to reassure Hermione that nothing would happen to Ron, though he didn't look very certain of it.

"That's better," Apollo said, his golden eyes turning blue again. Slowly, his godly appearance toned down, his clothes reverting back to normal as he shrunk back to his former height. The Sun Crown disappeared along with the bow and arrows so that it looked like a regular teen standing in front of Ron, but after his little show, not a single person in the room even bothered to think it.

"And they say Zeus is dramatic," Thalia whispered to Annabeth, who nodded in agreement.

* * *

Vena's forehead was resting on the shiny surface of her dining table. It had come to be there after she exasperatedly bowed her head and slammed it against the wood after Apollo's little show in the common room. She didn't know whether to laugh, groan, or pull him out of there and give him a firm talking-to. She was tempted to do all three.

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head," she said aloud. "Then I remember that I already do. And you're an idiot."

There was moment of silence. Then she heard Apollo's voice in her head. "_That hurts_," he said, feinting distress. "_That really hurts me, that right there_."

Vena rolled her eyes. "And I thought Zeusie was dramatic," she sighed. Then she heard Apollo snicker.

"_Zeusie?_" he asked. "_Oh, if you weren't Chaos' daughter..._"

Vena couldn't help but smile. "Just don't scare them like that again," she said. "Ron doesn't have that great opinion of you, like my father. He's—"

"Over-protective," Apollo finished. "I got that."

* * *

Rachel noticed Apollo standing by the fireplace, staring into the flames which reflected in his blank eyes. '_Probably talking to Vena_,' she thought to herself. She looked over at the wizards who were currently absorbing Apollo's little show. Rachel thought they were taking it surprisingly well, now the shock had worn off and they were reverting back to normal. They must have seen some startling events in their lives to get over what they'd seen so quickly, though it appeared that they would never look at Apollo the same way again.

"Rachel," Apollo called.

Rachel looked up at him. "Yes, my lord?"

"Would you be a dear and bring all the books here for a moment?" he asked pleasantly.

Rachel nodded and ran up to her room to retrieve the other books. That left Apollo with the wizards and demigods, plus the satyr. Ron looked at Apollo nervously, and after Hermione gave him another nudge, he stood up.

"Um, sir, Apollo, lord, um," he mumbled. Harry cleared his throat and Ron spoke louder. "I am sorry for offending you." He tried to look Apollo in the eye, but when he realized that his eyes refused to do as they were told, he just stared at his golden hair. "And that—well—"

"Seeing that this hard for you, I'll make this simple," Apollo said, trying not to laugh. "Don't do it again, and I wouldn't turn you into a weasel? Deal?"

Ron blushed. "Deal."

Hermione looked exasperated. "What is it with gods and turning people into animals?" she exclaimed, just as Rachel reappeared down the stairs.

Apollo laughed. "Hey, you should see what my sister turns guys into," he said, smirking. "And since she's the goddess of the hunt, I can guarantee you that those guys will never be seen again. I would allow him to _live_. I'm one of the better gods. Well, she is too, but I'm more lenient."

Hermione's skin paled and Ron was thoroughly grateful that this was Apollo, not his sister. Rachel cleared her throat and handed Apollo the box which held all the books. Apollo accepted the box and removed the books that were within it. As he separated them, Harry was shocked to see how big his books were, compared to Percy's. There were seven for him, each getting bigger than the last. Percy's all looked smaller than his, a few thicker than each other, but still smaller

"Okay, so I hear we're having a problem with this," Apollo said. "As you can see, the books aren't exactly tiny. Because of that, we're 'editing' them."

"Editing?" Travis asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," Apollo said, clearing of the mantle over the fireplace, "that you won't have to read so much."

Apollo rubbed his hands together and muttered something in Ancient Greek. A golden light erupted from his fingertips and snaked its way over to the mantle, taking the form of a rectangle. As the glow died down, Apollo stepped away to admire his handiwork. It was big, flat, black—

"Is that a flat screen television over the fireplace?" Conner asked.

Apollo nodded. "Yep," he said. "You see, the words in the books are very descriptive. We're going to save some time and, instead of reading parts, you can see them."

"See them?" Percy exclaimed. "What do you mean see them?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow and turned to the television. A remote control appeared in his hands. He pushed a button and the screen turned on. Instantly, a scene showed up. It showed an image of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover sleeping while the smuggled animals fretted in their cage. Then it showed them entering the Casino and having some fun.

"Does that look familiar?" he asked. Percy gaped at the images on the screen as Apollo continued. "We'd be able to do this for many portions of the chapters. Heck, if you don't want to read, we can just watch the whole thing, but it has to be chapter by chapter. The idea is to get a visual image of what's going on instead of describing the scene all the time."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you show up this before?" he asked.

Apollo shrugged. "I wasn't given permission," he said. "The point of you all being here to get to know each other and what you've been through. It's not necessary to know every tiny detail. But you must know the story."

Rachel frowned. "Why the change in plans?" she asked. "As far as I was concerned, we were only reading."

Apollo glanced at Nico. "Circumstances change, Rach," he said.

It hadn't escaped Nico that everyone was looking at him now. This was because of him. They were trying to shorten all this because of him going loose cannon.

"Almost correct, di Angelo," Apollo said, having been informed of his thoughts because of Vena. "You can't spend so much time in here reading. There will be longer breaks, but eventually you'll have to heal up on your own. Parts of your body are still weak, despite being healed. And you need to eat as well."

"I can handle it," Nico said, munching away on a slice of pizza.

"Nico, you're nearing 80 years, you shouldn't think like that," Apollo joked.

Nico glared at him. "A bit rich coming from you," he grumbled. "How old are you again?"

Apollo rolled his eyes and didn't answer. "Stop acting like your old man, Nico," he said. "Bitter isn't a good thing."

Apollo put his hands over the books and closed his eyes. That familiar golden light rayed down from his finger like morning sunshine, weaving into the books and into the pages. Slowly, very slowly so that the readers had to look carefully close while not blinding themselves, the books began to shrink down individually, and that included the one they already read. The flat-screen switched on, distracting a few of the Brits. Millions of images ran over the screen at such a speedy pace that no one could tell what was happening.

"Downloading," Thalia muttered as she stared at him. "Never saw it like that before."

The corners of Apollo's lips turned up. "Well, darling, that's because it's not a normal flat screen," he said. "It belongs to the lady of this house."

"Lady?" Annabeth's head perked up. "Who's the lady?"

Rachel giggled. "Apollo's dream-mistress?" she asked innocently.

Apollo, for the first time in that room, turned crimson red. As he finished his work, he ran his hand nervously through his hair before settling to glare at Rachel. In the background of his head, Apollo heard Vena giggling hysterically, so that made up for it. He loved to hear her laugh.

"_Well, is she wrong?_" Vena teased him.

"Shut up, Vena," Apollo muttered under his breath. He heard her laugh harder and the corners of his lips turned up. He glanced at his Oracle. "Rachel, don't say that. Please."

"She's teasing you, isn't she?" Rachel said, noting the rosiness on his cheeks.

"Who's she?" Luna asked. "The owner?"

Apollo shook his head, trying to rid his thoughts of Vena sweet laughter. "We're off topic, and yes, Luna, the owner," he said. "Anyways, by shortening the books, you have more time to do other things, like getting to know each other directly, and even enjoying the hospitality of this home. The screen will only be used to show you certain aspects of the story so that it's more—interesting and understandable. Get it?"

Percy nodded, but he wasn't too pleased. It would mean seeing everything that happened to him all over again from a visual perspective. He was happy this didn't come up when he was up against the Minotaur. He was sure he wouldn't have been able to handle it then.

"So now that the books are shorter, there will be a few parts skipped out," he said. "The book will show a few differences. Parts have been summarized for a quite read-over, and they have been marked. Parts that have to be visual have been noted in the books. If it skips something out that might be considered important, then I would have to explain it."

"Could we have an example of that?" Annabeth asked.

Apollo looked thoughtful. "Sure, one minute." Apollo disappeared for exactly ten seconds and returned with a different book. It was covered so no one could see the title. "Okay, so I'll read something from here and then I'll show you how it will either come up in shortened form, summary, and visual, got it?"

The readers nodded and Apollo cleared his throat and read, "**Chapter Thirty-Three: We Go Into the Salsa Business**."

"Why?" Conner asked.

"It's just the title of the chapter," Apollo said. "Can I read now?"

"Sure," Conner said, sitting back.

**_YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING_, Horus told me.**

**_I'm a little busy here!_ I thought back.**

**You might think it's easy steering a magic boat through the sky. You'd be wrong.**

"Wait a minute, what book is that?" Hermione asked.

Apollo frowned. "That doesn't matter! It's an example!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Never mind."

**I didn't have Amos's animated coat, so I stood in the back trying to shift the tiller myself, which was like stirring cement. I couldn't see where we were going. We kept tilting back and forth while Sadie tried her best to keep an unconscious Zia from flopping over the side.**

"Why is she unconscious?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Apollo said. "This is the first time I'm reading this."

Harry stared at him incredulously. "You're reading us something you don't know?"

"That's about right," Apollo said, smiling. He continued to read from the chapter without waiting for a response.

**_It's my birthday_, Horus insisted. _Wish me happy birthday!_**

**"Happy birthday!" I yelled. "Now, shut up!"**

He closed he book. "There, so take that as—" Apollo began, but Percy interrupted him with a laugh.

"That guy wasn't very polite to Horus," he chortled. "What was his name?"

"Carter," Apollo said. "Now, as I was saying—" He was interrupted when Hermione raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Why was he steering a flying boat, and was Horus talking to him in his mind?" she asked.

Apollo looked exasperated. "I don't know why he was flying the boat. And I can't explain Horus." He sighed. "Now, I was saying that—"

"But aren't you supposed to explain what we don't know," Harry pointed out.

"I'm _explaining_ from what I've _read_," Apollo said, looking at him with disbelief. "Just forget the rest of the book and stick with that."

"Fine," the readers muttered.

Apollo took a deep breath. "Okay, now say that something is left out, right? I have to explain anything important that was cut. So, say this:

**_YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING_, Horus told me.**

**_I'm a little busy here!_ I thought back.**

**You might think it's easy steering a magic boat through the sky. You'd be wrong. We kept tilting back and forth while Sadie tried her best to keep an unconscious Zia from flopping over the side.**

**_It's my birthday_, Horus insisted.**

**"Happy birthday!" I yelled. "Now, shut up!"**

"As you can see, I cut out some details," he said. "We get the point of the story, but it's shorter—"

"He has a good memory like Hermione," Ginny said.

"Thank you. I'm the god of knowledge," Apollo said. "The books will do that, but they will also cut off large scenes if they are too descriptive. So, this would happen:

Apollo picked up the little black remote and pressed a button to turn on the flat screen television. For a second, the screen was blank, but then a scene showed up. It depicted a teenage boy with dark skin and curly hair by a tiller on a ship. He was trying to navigate it, but it looked difficult for him. There were two girls with him. One was very beautiful with short black hair and caramel-colored skin, while the other had fair skin and blond hair with color streaks. The pretty blond one was conscious, so everyone took it that she was Sadie and the other unconscious girl was Zia. The guy had to be Carter.

"That looks difficult," Ron said as he watched Carter struggle with the tiller. The sound of the wind and shrieking was in the air around the people on the screen.

Then they heard a male voice on the screen shout, "_YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING_." It sounded odd, like the person was speaking with a slight echo. And there was no one else there.

The screen zoomed up on Carter's face and another voice was heard, "_I'm a little busy here!_" Carter hadn't opened his mouth to say anything, but it was clear that he was the one who meant it.

The screen showed Sadie pulling Zia away from edge as the boat tilted sideways, and then doing it again when the boat tilted the other way. That echo-like voice came up again and said, "_It's my birthday. Wish me happy birthday!_"

Carter struggled with the tiller and yelled, "Happy birthday! Now shut up!"

The screen went blank and Apollo turned around. "Then there's simply summarizing it all into one paragraph. No dialog, just summaries. So, as you saw before, that is what will happen with Percy and Harry's stories. Those will come up to make things easier. And to give your voices some rest. It won't always be that exact, but seeing that the example was small, there was no harm in it."

"But what happens next?" Travis asked staring at the screen. "It was getting good."

Apollo stared at him, mouth gaping slightly and eyes narrowed with disbelief. Then he shook his head muttered, "You're both just like your father, you know that?"

The Stolls looked very proud of that.

* * *

**_Sono morti. Bianca mi ha lasciato. Sono sempre solo. Essi lasciano sempre_. - They're dead. Bianca left me. I'm always alone. They always leave.**

**For the fun of it, I wrote a story called "Apollo and Venaurora: In Your Eyes". I uploaded that before to make up from not uploading this last Thursday like I had planned. If you all remember the part where Vena sent a pigeon after Apollo while he thought of 1920 Paris, then you'd see the memory of that night. I honestly don't know what the 1920s were like, or Paris, so you'd have to excuse any inaccuracies.**

**Now, the Kane Chronicles aren't going to be in this story. I just choice it as an example because it was either that or the Hunger Games, and I wanted to do the magical one.  
**

**Oh, I started watching Doctor Who last night. Never did before, and on Facebook, so many of the pages that I've been on have stuff about it, so I was like "What the heck, let me see what this is about" and now I think I'll try to watch all the seasons before the month is done.**

**~o~**

**To Guest: I'm flattered by the comparison, but I'm sure I'm not Rick Riordan. I'm sure he's not a 16 year old girl living in the Caribbean.**

**To Hayley Granger: Yes, I do have an account on Pottermore. I've mentioned it on my profile. I'm a Slytherin but my cousin is in Ravenclaw and she put the title of "Honorary Ravenclaw" over my head. Hmm, if I jumped into a van that smuggled illegal animals, I would bust the tires of the van, steal their keys and call the police. I'm not much of a fighter, but I can get what I want through planning, even if there isn't much time. I'd also ind some other means of transportation that isn't illegal - unless I'm seriously desperate. If I went into the Lotus Hotel, it would be between waiting periods for the HoO books. I'd go in so that the months would pass and I wouldn't notice and not be so agitated. I actually have no problem with the Hotel and Casino. And in the latest Spider-Man movie, I would say 93/100.**

**To Reyna Gold: Yes, the demigods and wizards will meet Vena before the Sea of Monsters is up.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Well, the part with Nico's memory made me tear up too. The little kid's parents just died (well, as far as he knew anyways). And I really do think that Andrew Garfield is cute. I think they rewrote his transformation because it was a reboot and they wanted a real change from the other one. And there is nothing wrong with not being on Pottermore. I was pretty late on it as well. My Ravenclaw cousin was a Beta (I so envied her). But if you do enter, don't be shy to say which house your in. I could add you as a friend. And I may have waffleitis too. I ramble a lot. As for Phoenix, Mika, and Chryses, yeah, they'll be back soon, but they won't join the reader sessions any time soon. And it's okay to have essay reviews. I love them, they make me happy. Oh, and as for Percy, Grover, and Annabeth remembering Nico in the casino, I sort of doubt it. Percy didn't recall him in the books, so I'm not going to do that in the story - immediately. Vena has ways of showing off memories (spoiler).**

**To teanotes: Yeah, I don't anyone would like to wake up bloody. I know I wouldn't. And yes, just to confirm, Chaos is Vena's father. As for Luna, I'm sure she'll caught on faster than the others. She listens more than she speaks, so she'll be able to find the details the others don't.**

**To BrokenRainbowsShatteredDream s: Fred's death will be discussed before they get to Harry's books, but I haven't planned out much of the plot George has with the Stolls, so that can't really be answered at the moment. And technically, they're all related on the godly side, but when it comes to DNA, they have no relation. I think it was explained by Percy in The Last Olympian when Percy thought about Silena and Beckendorf.**

**To Andrea Wong: To be honest, Vena fell in love with Apollo a really long time ago. Only she can really say how and why she fell for him.**

**To Jonathan: I've noticed that my writing does look like Thalico, but I don't think that Thalia and Nico are interested in each other. I didn't mean to make it look like that, so when I re-read it I go "Oh, wait a minute... that didn't sound right..." In the last chapter, I had to make so many edits because a few lines screamed Thalico when it shouldn't have been there.**

**To JMac322: Yeah, I'm wondering how she's going to deal with being a vampire first. That's going to be very exciting. I feel the same way about the Amazing Spider-Man. Even The Dark Knight Rises has me tempted to go watch it again. I'm really excited to get to Harry's books too. I just don't know when that will be.**

**~o~**

**So, that's all for now. I think a few bits in this chapter were a little mixed up. I really need to work on making it consistent and not so choppy. I don't like it when my work starts to go in and out, then up and down. It irritates me.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	23. We Shop For Water Beds

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.**

**So in this chapter I have removed a few details. Just a warning.**

**Watched "The Replacements" while writing this. I forgot Rhys Ifans (Xeno Lovegood) was in that movie, so watching it again, it's so hard not to think of him. Also watched Hellboy 2 while revising it. I'm sure there are a few errors. This chapter was giving me a headache.**

**Evgenis (pronounced: ev yen ees) - Remember that.**

**Song of the chapter: I See the Light - Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi (Tangled).**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**We Shop For Water Beds**

* * *

_**Somewhere in the distant future...**_

Artemis drove her moon chariot across the night sky. Apollo had just contacted her a few minutes ago and told her about Mika's attempt to use the Hall of the Past, one of the sacred chamber rooms that belonged to Lady Vena on Olympus. Artemis had no words for him about this. It was hard to be furious with this child, but Artemis couldn't help but feel both upset and worried. It was her week to supervise Mika. Lately, she hadn't been able to talk to most of the Immortal Children due to prior commitments, but she had promised Mika's father that she would keep Mika from doing something stupid.

She had almost wrecked that promise. If Mika had tampered with anything in that room, there would be a good chance that she could be lost in space and time for who knows how long!

That girl was serious trouble when she wanted to be. How did she expect to join the Hunt when she couldn't control her vast curiosity? Artemis shook her head. Mika was too much like her father, that was one thing for sure. She was like both her parents, but her father the most. She had his attitude, sarcasm, and cheerful nature. Her aura screamed 'Child of the Sea'; she was reckless, unattainable, charming, and mischievous, just like him. She was annoying and frustrating, but she was also determined and fierce, like her mother.

Artemis smiled. That was one trait that she actually approved of in Mika: her mother's traits. As she crossed the oceans below, Artemis wondered what Mika's father would make of her going into the Hall of the Past. There was no doubt in her mind that he would ground Mika and keep a bodyguard near her twenty-four/seven. Last week it had been Dionysus's turn to look after Mika, and it ended with him drowning himself in wine; what Mika had done to that man was still a mystery. Next week was Athena's turn to look after that girl. Artemis silently wished her good luck.

Looking down at the water, a figure popped out, glinting in the moonlight. Artemis recognized him immediately.

"She's done something reckless again!" she called down to him. "What to do now?" Even from this distance, she could see that man groan wearily. The sight made her laugh.

* * *

_**Two hours later...**_

Mika marched into her room with Phoenix and Chryses, completely disgruntled with her parents. "I'm a fifteen year old goddess, and I'm grounded!" she snapped, throwing herself down on her plush bed. "Daddy is being unfair!"

She had not taken her cloak off yet and her room was dark. Still, the lotus designed tiled floor, the woodland painted walls, and the huge fireplace could not be purely masked by any shadow. Phoenix sat on the bed next to her. She had removed her cloak to reveal one very beautiful goddess underneath. She had her father's maniacal eyes, but the irises were brown like her mother's, not black. Her skin was light olive toned, nearly glowing in the shadows. Her usual curly black hair was wavy tonight with streaks of bronze on her right side.

Chryses stood out in the light, looking as handsome as ever. It didn't matter that there were a few grease stains on his pants or shirt. He pulled it all off without trying. "Come on, cousin, it's not that bad," he said as another guy entered the chamber-bedroom. "Your parents were just worried that you'd do something stupid."

"Which is something that happens quite often," the newcomer added, smirking. "As soon as Lady Artemis returns, you're in for an earful. I heard from Apollo that she was very upset with what you did. She's responsible for you this week, after all. I imagine that if it was her sister to look after you this week instead of next, it would be a worser talking-to."

He went to stand by the huge fireplace across from the master bed. The glow of the flames distinguished every feature on his calm, calculating face. His sea green eyes, a few shades darker than Mika's, reflected the flames in such a way you'd think that they were dancing in his eyes. His features looked sharper so that he resembled his father much more than he usually did.

"Hey, Evvy," Mika said, sitting up to look at him properly. "What are you doing here?"

Evvy entwined his long fingers together, studying them absently, just like he always did when he was amused. "I was sent to look after you until Artemis's return to Olympus." The expression on Mika's face was so priceless that he flashed her a bright grin. "And I'm not any happier than you, just so you know."

"Oh, for the love of the gods!" she exclaimed, through her hands up in the air. "Can't they have a little faith in me? It's not like I was going back there anytime soon!"

Evvy bit his lower bit. "So you admit that you planned to return to that Hall eventually?" he asked shrewdly.

Mika growled in frustration. "Evgenis!" she snapped, glaring heatedly at him so that her eyes appeared gray instead of green. "So help me, Mumma and Daddy, I will throw you out this room!"

Evvy held up his hand. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for pointing that out," he said. "Forget I said anything."

Mika pulled down her hood. Her hair had darkened to black, just like her father's; this was a sign of distress for her. Phoenix went to sit next to her and wrapped a slender arm around her shoulders. She looked up at Evvy and said in a teasing voice, "See, this is why we don't like super smart people."

Evvy grinned. "I'm NOT super smart. I'm just smarter than you."

Chryses laughed. "Did Uncle Poseidon tell you that?"

Evvy swatted him over the head. "Hey, leave my Dad out of this!"

Mika giggled as the two guys pretended to argue, just to cheer her up. Her hair began to lighten up by a small fraction, and in the firelight, her hair looked partly bronze.

"Where's Alitheia?" she asked. "I would have thought she'd be here too, seeing that she's smarter than you." Phoenix laughed.

Evvy rolled his eyes, but he did admit that Alitheia was smarter than him. "She's sleeping right now," he informed Mika, smirking. "She did a lot of research with Annie today, so she's really tired."

Phoenix's expression darkened at the mention of the daughter of Athena, one of her least favorite people in the world. "Don't talk about _that woman_ around me," she said indignantly, sounding a lot like her mother. "After what she did to my cousin..."

Mika sighed. She could see where Phoenix was going with this. "We're all still mad at her," she admitted. "Mallie and Rina both have trouble looking at her because of it, and they're her siblings."

The fireplace crackled with the sounds of burning embers in golden flames. In the distance they could hear Alexandria, daughter of Apollo, singing her nightly ballad/lullaby on Olympus. Her voice was so sweet that it automatically relaxed the disgruntled Immortal children in Mika's room; so, basically, all of them.

"Let's not talk about it, period," Chryses recommended. "Why not talk about the Tournament? That's more interesting. Or even hunting. We can call Lexi. No, she's singing," he added when he realized that she was currently occupied. "Or Rue. Maybe Cassie and Faye?"

"I'm not sure changing the subject would help that much," Mika said softly. "You know how children of Hades are,"—she nodded at Phoenix—"they hold grudges."

Phoenix glared. "Thank you for that. I needed it." The sarcasm was obvious.

Evvy should his head as he looked at the two girls. "Mika, be honest here. Why did you want to go into the Hall of the Past? What did you expect to find?"

Mika shrugged. "Well, I didn't exactly expect to find anything, to be honest," she confessed sheepishly. "Lately, I've been having these dreams. They get strong whenever I'm around Daddy ... Apollo ... Uncle Nick ... Tray ... Kate ... I feel like there's something I'm supposed to do, but I don't know what it is."

"Why don't you just ask Aunt Vena?" Evvy questioned. "She would help you."

Mika looked uncomfortable. "That's the thing," she said softly, bowing her head to look at her nimble fingers. "I already did."

* * *

_**In the present day...**_

When Nico finally finished eating as much food as he possibly could, the readers settled down to continue the rest of their session for the day.

Apollo checked for the time. It was now five hours after noon, so he figured that they could read at least two more chapters and finish off the rest of the book tomorrow. Vena wanted to meet them after they were finished the first book, after all.

Everyone had returned to their individual seats (Thalia being completely grateful that she no longer had to sit on the floor) with a plates of food to snack on. It was Annabeth's turn to read again. As she took up the book, she couldn't help but notice that it was slimmer.

"I don't have to restart, right?" she asked.

"Nope," Apollo said. "But once you're finished one book, you're always free to go back and re-read it.

"Oh, that's good," Annabeth said, nodding along with Hermione. Ron and Percy refrained from rolling their eyes at their eagerness; individually, they were far used to it. Annabeth cleared her throat at read, "**Chapter Seventeen: We Shop For Water Beds**."

"Now is not the time for a shopping trip," Conner asked, confused.

"You forgot that his titles have double meanings," Travis reminded him. "They probably didn't shop for anything."

"Bingo," Grover said, rubbing his abdomen mournfully. Those stretchers had really hurt.

**Annabeth loaded us into the back of a Vegas taxi and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."**

**The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized us up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."**

**"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.**

**He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."**

**Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card.**

"That's not a good idea, Annabeth," Nico said. "Those cards are unlimited."

"We know," Annabeth said.

**He looked at it skeptically.**

**"Swipe it," Annabeth invited.**

**He did.**

**His meter machine started rattling. An infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.**

**The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"**

**"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter.**

"Your highness?" Nico asked.

"Shut up," Annabeth said, blushing.

**"Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."**

**Maybe she shouldn't have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.**

**On the road, we had plenty of time to talk. I told Annabeth and Grover about my latest dream, but the details got sketchier the more I tried to remember them. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-circuited my memory.**

Nico winced. "I know how you feel, man."

Neville leaned towards Ginny and whispered, "Remind me never to go to Vegas." Ginny smirked.

**I couldn't recall what the invisible servant's voice had sounded like, though I was sure it was somebody I knew. The servant had called the monster in the pit something other than "my lord" ... some special name or title...**

**"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."**

"The Crooked One," Hermione said immediately. "That's what the servant said."

"Well, I didn't remember that," Percy said shamefully.

"Hades's isn't called that, right?" Ginny asked.

"No, he isn't," Rachel replied. "The Crooked One is someone far more dangerous than Hades."

**"Maybe ..." I said, though neither sounded quite right.**

**"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."**

**I shook my head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit ... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."**

Annabeth shook her head. As soon as he had said that, her thoughts had drifted off to the Titans. She hadn't wanted to believe that at all. She had been so determined to believe that it was Hades that she didn't take the time to really analyze the situation with Kronos detailed into it.

**Annabeth's eyes widened.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"Oh ... nothing. I was just No, it has to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong—"**

**"Like what?"**

**"I-I don't know," she said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."**

**I wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She looked pale.**

**"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," I said, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"**

**"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."**

"That would make sense," Neville said. "A bargaining tool."

"But that's not smart," Hermione said, frowning.

**I whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."**

**"Why, thank you."**

**"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items," I said. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?"**

"I didn't even notice that," Harry said to himself, frowning.

Hermione thought back to the last chapter, trying to see if she could figure it out.

**Grover shook his head, clearly mystified.**

**Annabeth was looking at me as if she knew my next question, and was silently willing me not to ask it.**

**"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" I asked her. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"**

**"Percy ... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades ... No. It has to be Hades."**

Nico glared at Annabeth. "You know, I will admit that my father isn't the best person in the world, but that was plain offensive," he said.

Annabeth sighed. "You're not really going to let that go completely, are you?" she asked him.

Nico pursed his lips, but he didn't answer.

Apollo grinned. "I think Hades would appreciate his son sticking up for him," he said. "Not many people do that."

Nico managed a smile while Annabeth sighed and looked back into the book.

**Wasteland rolled by. We passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.**

**I got the feeling I was missing one simple, critical piece of information. The more I thought about my quest, the more I was sure that confronting Hades wasn't the real answer. There was something else going on, something even more dangerous.**

**The problem was: we were hurtling toward the Underworld at ninety-five miles an hour, betting that Hades had the master bolt. If we got there and found out we were wrong, we wouldn't have time to correct ourselves. The solstice deadline would pass and war would begin.**

"That's tough," Ron said, winced.

"The weight of the world was on a couple of 12-year-olds," George pointed out. "What else would it be?"

Grover pouted. "I was twenty-eight!"

A few people tried not to laugh at his expression. Apollo had to look away towards the fireplace so no one would see him laughing.

**"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured me. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."**

**She tried to boost our morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but my heart wasn't in it. There were just too many unknown factors. It was like cramming for a test without knowing the subject. And believe me, I'd done that enough times.**

**The cab sped west. At sunset, the taxi dropped us at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse. Grover, Annabeth, and I walked down to the edge of the surf.**

**"What now?" Annabeth asked.**

Annabeth looked up from the book. "Um, Apollo, what do you do when the book says '**Reader stops here, Scene One**'?"

Apollo looked up at her. "Hm? Oh, that," he sat up and picked up the remote. "That's where the flat screen comes in."

He pressed on of the buttons and the screen went on. Then he put the remote to his lips like a microphone and said, "**Book One, Chapter—**" He looked at Annabeth again. "Which chapter was it again?"

"Seventeen," Annabeth told him.

"Thanks. **Book One, Chapter Seventeen, Scene One**," he said into the remote control.

Those who knew how a remote control worked were puzzled by this, but then a title appeared on the screen titled: We Shop For Water Beds - Scene One - Meeting with the Nereid.

A scene started under the title:

o

_It started with a sunset. The golden haze drifted into thee horizon, reflecting off the ocean's surface. The readers could hear the sound of the waves hitting against the shore as three kids entered the scene: Percy, Annabeth, and Grover._

o

"Wow, I was shorter than the both of you," Percy commented as he watched his old self and the two others walk to the edge of the surf. "I'd forgotten that."

"You all look very different when you were younger," Luna commented.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, we were," he said, watching his younger self stare out at the sea in awe. "I remember what I was thinking at that moment."

"What was that?" Rachel asked.

Percy smiled. "I couldn't believe that my father controlled all that," he said. "I wondered how I could be related to someone so powerful."

o

_They all watched as Percy stared out towards the sea. Then his expression turned solemn as he started walking out into the sea. Annabeth looked confused as she started to approach him, but Grover held her back. He shook his head at her._

o

"I don't remember you two doing that," Percy said, frowning.

"Duh," Grover said. "You weren't looking."

o

_The younger Annabeth called out: "Percy? What are you doing?" Percy didn't answer her as he continued to walk out into the sea, going lower and lower. She shook her head, probably thinking that what he was doing was foolish. "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic waste and—" She stopped talking when Percy went completely under the water. "—and he's gone."_

_"He's the son of Poseidon," Grover reminded her. "I'm sure the polluted water won't bother him." Grover looked upset at saying 'polluted water'._

_Annabeth folded her arms, looking disgruntled and worried._

_The scene cut to Percy under the water. He looked around as he swam a little further out into the surf. His cheeks were puffed out, like he was holding his breath._

o

Conner caught on to that.

"Why are you holding your breath?" he asked. "Can't you breath underwater?"

Percy nodded. "It was hard for me to do that intentionally," he said. "Naturally my instinct was to save my breath."

o

_Then, in the scene, Percy let out his breath and inhaled. Then he exhaled. Then inhaled again. _It was amusing for the readers to see his surprised expression at being able to breath underwater_. Then he continued to walk down the shoals._

_A small caption, both in English and Greek, came up on to the screen saying: As a son of Poseidon, he is able to see/sense what most people would not under the sea, examples: objects obscured by darkness, the difference in currents, sand-dollars hidden in darkness._

o

"Really?" Annabeth asked, reading the caption.

Percy nodded, smiling. "It's quite helpful, to be honest."

o

_The caption disappeared as Percy stopped walking and looked down. His expression was panicked when he saw something by his feet. The scene moved downwards to show a five-foot-long mako shark nuzzling against his leg._

o

Most people gasped at the sight of the shark, but a reassuring smile from Percy let them know that nothing bad happened with it.

Conner, on the other hand, freaked out. "_Shark!_" he yelped, scrambling backwards into Travis and fell on the floor. "S-Shark!"

Apollo, startled by the cry, paused the scene as Conner started shaking at the sight of the shark. Travis got off his seat immediately, sat on the floor next to Conner, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder and started saying reassuring words to his brother.

"Hey, hey! It's okay, Conner," he said, trying to calm his brother down. "I'm sure it won't hurt him."

Conner looked as terrified as Annabeth and Ron were when they thought about spiders. "I hate sharks," Conner yelped, his voice getting slightly higher than before. "I hate them! _I hate them..._"

Travis rubbed circles on his back and sent an apologetic look to the others. "He watched two of the 'Jaws' movies when he was four," he said. "Never got over it. The nightmares were terrible. And it didn't help that our mortal cousin bullied him into watching 'Deep Blue Sea' a few years later."

Those who knew what the movies was, nodded in understanding. Thalia wasn't too bothered because she'd seen the movies enough times not to get startled anymore. Conner looked away from the screen and buried his face in Travis's shoulder. Sharks truly freaked him out to death. They were some of the few species that he couldn't handle.

"He's shaking," Luna said, coming to sit on Conner's other side.

"He's worse when he went to the New York Aquarium and saw them for real," he said. "He was shaking in bed for two days."

Conner gulped, not bothering to tell his brother off for revealing that secret.

"Keeping rolling," Travis said. "Best to let it pass."

Apollo nodded and unpaused the scene, allowing the others to see what happened next.

o

_Everyone watched the shark nuzzled Percy. It didn't attack him as it swam around his legs, nudging him. Percy reached down and touched its dorsal fin. I made a small bucking motion, and after a slight hesitation, Percy grabbed both fins of the shark._

o

"What are you doing, Percy?" Nico asked.

"It wanted to take me somewhere," Percy replied. "It was behaving a little bit like a dog. Sharks are friendly to children of Poseidon."

Conner peeked up from Travis's shoulder, torn between wanting to know what was happening and his fear of sharks.

o

_The shark swam off into the ocean, carrying the son of Poseidon along with it. Despite the darkness of the actual ocean, the scene was lit brighter than it would be so that the readers could see what was happening with Percy. Soon the sand bank came to a huge chasm opening into a vast void of darkness. Percy let go of the fins and leaned over the edge, looking down curiously into the unknown._

o

Thalia shivered at the sight of the chasm; who knew how deep that went? "What on earth are you thinking?" she asked him. "Leaning over like that!"

Percy sighed. "It was nothing bad, Thalia," he said. "I was just wondering what was down there and if I could go there."

"Why would you want to do that?" Thalia asked

"Curiosity," Percy said, shrugging.

Ron leaned to Harry and said softly, "I think he could be a Gryffindor."

"I do as well," Harry muttered back.

o

As the scene played, another caption came up: Percy is unaffected by sea pressure; he can dive to limits that mortals cannot achieve.

o

A few people sent Percy impressed glances.

"A person would be killed if they tried to go so deep," Hermione noted.

"Well, I'm Poseidon's son," Percy said, like that answered it all. "It's in the genes."

"Still unfair that he has so many powers," Thalia muttered. Percy heard her and laughed.

o

_The scene showed Percy squinting into the darkness. It cut to a shot of his standing by the edge the chasm. Then something shimmered within the darkness, growing brighter and clear as it got closer to Percy. As it approached, a woman's gentle voice called out, "Percy Jackson."_

_The woman reached level with him, riding a sea-horse the size of an actual stallion._

o

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione exclaimed, gazing at the creature with the woman. "Is that a sea-horse?"

Percy grinned. "Yep."

o

_As the woman dismounted the sea-horse, it whisked off in circles around the chasm. The shark pursued it. It didn't attack it, but from the way they behaved, it looked like a game of tag._

_The corner of Percy's lips turned up at the sight, but then they smoothed out as he looked at the woman. Everyone noted that she had a beautiful, haunting face, and lovely bright eyes. Her expression was calm and dreamlike, vaguely similar to Luna's, but it was also determined, similar to how Percy's expression looked._

o

The readers wondered whether this was a regular trait of sea-people.

o

_The woman was only a few feet from Percy now. "You've come far, Percy Jackson. Well done." She smiled at him the way a mother would a child._

_Percy bowed awkwardly, looking unsure of what to do. His gaze was distant as he looked at her. "You're the woman who spoke to me in the Mississippi River."_

_The woman nodded. "Yes, child. I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea," she told him. Her hair floated out around her head so mystically that it was impossible for the readers not to stare. "It was easy to appear so far upriver," she continued, "but the naiads, my freshwater cousins, helped sustain my life force. They honor Lord Poseidon, though they do not serve in his court."_

_"And ..." Percy's head tilted slightly, "you serve in Poseidon's court?"_

_She nodded. "It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born," she said. "We have watched you with great interest."_

_Percy's eyes became distant as he started to think. The scene temporarily changed to show what he was thinking: Sally Jackson held little Percy's hand as they walked along Montauk beach together. Percy's cheeks were rosy and full, and his green eyes glowed with mirth as he looked out at the sea. In the water, faces of nereids smiled and waved at him. While Sally wasn't looking, he waved back energetically._

o

"Aw," Hermione, Annabeth, Ginny, and Rachel cooed.

"How sweet," Thalia laughed.

Percy turned red as the guys made a few jokes about it. Apollo chuckled and shook his head. Percy did look like one darling kid back then.

"How did you not pick up on the fact that THAT was strange?" Ginny asked.

Percy shrugged. "I was a little kid, Ginny," he said. "So many weird things happened in my life. I never gave much thought before."

o

_The memory image faded back to the nereid and Percy._

_Percy frowned. "If my father is so interested in me, why isn't he here?" he asked, sounding slightly disappointed and annoyed all at once. "Why doesn't he speak to me?"_

_The scene showed a shot of the dark chasm before them. A faint rumbling sound emitted from it as a rush of water rose out. It wasn't too visible, but whatever it was made Percy shiver. The nereid looked both sympathetic and calm._

_"Do not judge the Lord of the Sea too harshly," she said to Percy. "He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism."_

_Percy was silent for a moment before saying, "Even to their own children?"_

o

Everyone glanced at Apollo, who had bowed his head as he thought of his own children, both at Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter. The nereid was right. The gods could not interfere with their lives. It made Apollo sad that he could not see them often. That was shown on his face so that the readers could tell where his trail of thought lied.

o

_The nereid's eyes shone. "Especially to them," she said. "The gods can work by indirect influence only. That is why I give a warning, and a gift."_

_She held out her hand to Percy, unfurling her fingers to reveal three gleaming white pearls resting in her palm. They glowed in the dark blue waters around them, reflecting off of Percy's clearly visible eyes._

o

"Pearls?" Rachel asked. "How will that help?

"You'll see," Percy said. "Those pearls saved us."

They didn't ask any further. It was obvious that those pearls were needed.

"Didn't she say that you shouldn't trust the gifts?" Neville asked.

"She was talking about different gifts," Apollo told him. "It will be revealed in time. Don't worry." Neville nodded and looked at the screen once again.

o

_Percy looked confused. The nereid said, "I know you journey to Hades's realm. Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had great music skill—"_

o

"Of course he did," Apollo said proudly. "He was my boy, after all."

It was hard not to smile at the pride in Apollo's voice as they listened to the nereid speak.

o

_"—Hercules, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus." The nereid gazed at Percy with bright eyes. "Do you have these talents?"_

_It was hard to tell in the water, but Percy looked sheepish. "Urm ... no, ma'am."_

_In the background, the mako shark swam in a full circle around the huge sea-horse who whinnied playfully. Percy and the nereid took no notice of it_, but the readers were laughing.

_She smiled. "Ah, but you have something else, Percy. You have gifts you have only begun to know. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to man hood." The nereid looked grave. "Poseidon would not have you die before your time. Therefore take these, and when you are in need, smash a pearl at your feet."_

_Percy looked confused at he gazed at the pearls she placed in his hands. "What will happen?" he asked._

_"That," she said, "depends on the need. But remember: what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea."_

o

Those words left the readers thinking hard. Only Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Apollo understood what she had meant.

"Return to the sea?" Travis asked. "How's going to do that?"

"It will be shone within the next few chapters, I think," Apollo informed him. Then he looked at Annabeth. "By the way, the scene's almost done, so get ready to read."

She nodded as she looked at the screen. At least now she knew what happened down there.

o

_The shark swam off, leaving the sea-horse alone. It whinnied and swam around the chasm by itself. The ocean floor got darker as the scene showed a shot of the water near the ocean's surface._

_Percy looked at the nereid. "What about the warning?" he asked._

_The nereid's eyes seemed to flicker with green light. "Go with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all," she told him. "Hades feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will trick you if he can, make you mistrust your own judgment. Once you are in his realm, he will never willingly let you leave. Keep faith. Good luck, Percy Jackson."_

_She turned to summon her sea-horse._

o

As she did so, Ron looked at Nico. "And you defend him, why?" he asked.

Nico glared. "If someone insulted your father, no matter how different he was, wouldn't you defend him?" he asked.

Ron sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I would."

o

_The sea horse swam up to them. She mounted it once again and the two of them rode towards the darkness in the chasm. Percy stepped forward, apparently surprised by the sudden departure._

_"Wait!" he called out to her. "At the river, you said not to trust the gifts. What gifts?"_

o

"We'd like to know that too," Hermione muttered to herself.

o

_As the sea horse rode deeper into the void, the nereid looked back. "Good-bye, young hero," she called back. Her voice faded with the distance between them. "You must listen to your heart." Her voice faded away, and then she was gone, buried in the darkness of the chasm._

_Percy stood there, all alone. He leaned out and gazed down into the chasm, looking torn, but as he looked up towards the surface of the sea, his expression hardened._

o

"What were you thinking there?" Harry asked.

Percy focused on remembering. "I wanted to follow her and see the court of Poseidon," he said. "But time was running out, and I had a quest to do, so I didn't follow her."

"Oh," Harry said, nodding. "That's understandable."

o

_Percy kicked off of the sea floor and started to swim back up to the beach. Faint light from the sea's surface filtered through the water, revealing small schools of fish darting through the water. Patches of seaweed swayed in the currents as Percy passed, but he didn't stop to watch. He was getting closer to the surface..._

_The scene cut to Annabeth and Grover on the beach._

_Annabeth was pacing back and forth, looking agitated. "Where IS he?" she asked, stomping hard on the sand. "He's been down there forever!"_

_Grover gulped. "I hope he didn't drown," he said, looking equally as worried._

_Annabeth sighed. "We don't have that long to be here," she said. "He better "_

_Before she could finish, Percy popped out of the water. He shook the water out of his as he waded out of the surf. The scene zoomed in on him so that the readers could see the water drip off his skin and filter off his clothes. By the time Percy got to Annabeth and Grover, he was completely dry._

o

"That's so cool!" Conner said, finally back to normal now that the shark was gone.

"Thanks," Percy said, grinning.

The scene stopped and a replay sign appeared in the center of the screen.

"What happened?" Ron asked, wondering why the screen went blank.

"Time to read again," Apollo said, grinning. "If you will, Miss Annabeth..."

She smiled. "Alright then," she said, looking at the book. "Let's see here... Ah! Here it is."

The readers readjusted their positions so that they were no longer directed at the flat screen, but at the book in Annabeth's hands.

**I told Grover and Annabeth what had happened, and showed them the pearls.**

**Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price."**

**"They were free."**

**"No." She shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' There will be a price. You wait."**

**On that happy thought, we turned our backs on the sea.**

"Happy thought?" Grover asked. "You sound like Chiron."

Percy blushed as the others laughed.

**With some spare change from Ares's backpack, we took the bus into West Hollywood. I showed the driver the Underworld address slip I'd taken from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd never heard of DOA Recording Studios. We thanked him and got off quickly at the next stop.**

**We wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book.**

**Twice, we ducked into alleys to avoid cop cars.**

**I froze in front of an appliance-store window because a television was playing an interview with somebody who looked very familiar - my stepdad, Smelly Gabe.**

Everyone groaned at the mention of Gabe.

**He was talking to Barbara Walters. She was interviewing him in our apartment, in the middle of a poker game, and there was a young blond lady sitting next to him, patting his hand.**

"Who's the lady?" George asked.

"His 'grief counselor'," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "Sugar."

"What kind of name is that?" Ginny asked.

"A nickname?" George suggested innocently.

Ginny nudged him in the ribs. "Har-har, Georgie."

**A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife ... my Camaro ... I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."**

"He doesn't care about Mom," Percy said, glaring at the book. "Just his stupid car."

Annabeth patted his shoulder as she read on. Apollo's eyes tightened at the sound of Gabe. He now understood why Poseidon wanted to kill the guy himself.

**"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart.**

Percy made a raspberry sound that had a few people cracking up, including Apollo. Annabeth swatted his arm playfully and continued reading with a small smile.

**An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver."**

**The screen cut to a grainy shot of me, Annabeth, and Grover standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares.**

**"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."**

Apollo shook his head fondly. "Ah, mortal ignorance," he said. "It never gets old."

The Greeks chuckled while the Brits tried not to be offended by that.

**"C'mon," Grover told me. He hauled me away before I could punch a hole in the appliance-store window.**

**It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a New Yorker. I don't scare easy.**

"That's one of the best things to love about New Yorkers; they're bold," Apollo said. "Some of the most resilient people too."

"Thanks," Percy, Rachel, and the Stolls said, all four of them from New York; Percy from Manhattan, Rachel from Brooklyn, and the Stolls from Queens.

**But L.A. had a totally different feel from New York. Back home, everything seemed close. It didn't matter how big the city was, you could get anywhere without getting lost. There was a system to how things worked. A kid could be safe as long as he wasn't stupid.**

"That's how Conner and I work," Travis said, grinning. "We're street smart."

"Can you work on book smart?" Annabeth asked him.

Travis rolled his eyes. "I'll get back to you."

Annabeth groaned as she continued reading the book.

**L.A. wasn't like that. It was spread out, chaotic, hard to move around. It reminded me of Ares. I didn't know how we were ever going to find the entrance to the Underworld by tomorrow, the summer solstice.**

**We walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers.**

**As we hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."**

**Like an idiot, I stopped.**

**Before I knew it, we were surrounded. A gang of kids had circled us. Six of them in all - white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. Like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys.**

**Instinctively, I uncapped Riptide.**

"I wanted to slap you for that," Annabeth said, glancing at Percy. "They were mortals."

"As far as we knew," Percy replied. "You know how monsters can look take on disguises."

Grover chuckled. "You weren't thinking that at the time, Percy," he said. "You were just trying to intimidate them."

Percy glared at Grover while the others groaned at him.

**When the sword appeared out of nowhere, the kids backed off, but their leader was either really stupid or really brave, because he kept coming at me with a switchblade.**

**I made the mistake of swinging.**

"Mortals, right?" Conner asked, grinning.

"Shut up," Percy grumbled, scratching his ear nervously.

**The kid yelped. But he must've been one hundred per cent mortal, because the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest. He looked down. "What the..."**

**I figured I had about three seconds before his shock turned to anger. "Run!" I screamed at Annabeth and Grover.**

**We pushed two kids out of the way and raced down the street, not knowing where we were going. We turned a sharp corner.**

**"There!" Annabeth shouted.**

**Only one store on the block looked open, its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.**

"What?" Ron asked.

"It's the dyslexia, Ron," Hermione reminded him.

Ron nodded. "Oh, right."

**"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.**

**It didn't sound like a place I'd ever go except in an emergency, but this definitely qualified.**

**We burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.**

**"I think we lost them," Grover panted.**

**A voice behind us boomed, "Lost who?"**

**We all jumped.**

**Standing behind us was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. He moved toward us slowly, but I got the feeling he could move fast if he needed to.**

**His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It belonged back in the seventies, big-time. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck—I couldn't even count them.**

**"I'm Crusty," he said, with a tartar-yellow smile.**

**I resisted the urge to say, Yes, you are.**

Everyone laughed as Percy grinned sheepishly.

"Your humor is just like your father's," Apollo commented, chuckling.

**"Sorry to barge in," I told him. "We were just, um, browsing."**

**"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"**

"No," Percy said, frowning. "I like water beds, just not from him.

The others were left confused, but Annabeth, Grover, and Apollo understood what he meant.

**I was about to say No, thanks, when he put a huge paw on my shoulder and steered me deeper into the showroom.**

**There was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe-size.**

**"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O.**

**"Million-hand massage," Crusty told us. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, anyway.**

**"Um," I said, "I don't think ..."**

**"Million-hand massage!" Grover cried, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."**

"It was until I almost got stretched," Grover grumbled to himself.

**"Hmm," Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost."**

"Almost what?" Travis asked.

"Dear gods, why is everyone quoting Percy?" Annabeth asked, looking at the next few words.

Apollo smirked. "Maybe because his words are the most likely quotes to ask, naturally," Apollo suggested.

Everyone laughed as Annabeth blushed.

**"Almost what?" I asked.**

**He looked at Annabeth. "Do me a favor and try this one over here, honey. Might fit."**

**Annabeth said, "But what—"**

**He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder and led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter. When Annabeth didn't want to lie down, Crusty pushed her.**

"I didn't like that," Annabeth muttered.

"None of us did," Grover said.

**"Hey!" she protested.**

**Crusty snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"**

**Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress.**

"Monster?" Perce asked.

Annabeth nodded, grimacing at the memory of what had happened to her.

**Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down.**

**"N-not c-c-cool!" he yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"**

"You sound strange saying that," Conner commented.

"Oh, hush," Annabeth replied. "Um, Apollo, the book says '**Reader stops here, Scene Two**'. Do we have to watch the screen again?"

Apollo nodded. "Okay, um," he said, putting the remote control to him mouth again. "**Book One, Chapter Seventeen, Scene Two**."

At the top of the screen, the title came up: **We Shop For Water Beds - Scene Two - Crusty's Water Bed Palace**.

_The first part of the scene showed a grinning Crusty look away from a struggling Annabeth to Percy._

o

"Ugh, he's ugly," Travis said, grimacing at the sight. "Aphrodite couldn't fix that if she tried."

Everyone snorted with laughter as their attentions were turned to the screen.

o

_"Almost, darn it," he said, grinning. Percy's shoulder's tensed as he tried to take a step back, but Crusty threw his hand out and clamped his fingers around Percy's neck. The readers groaned. "Whoa, kid," Crusty said. "We'll find you one in a sec."_

_Percy struggled to get free, but he was unsuccessful. "Let my friends go!"_

_Unknown to Percy, Crusty rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first."_

_Percy's struggling face looked confused. "What do you mean?"_

o

"Your friends are in danger and you're having a conversation?" George asked incredulously.

"That's what we thought, too," Annabeth said resentfully.

Percy rolled his eyes.

o

_Crusty gestured to the beds around them. "All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit."_

_Annabeth and Grover struggled to free themselves of their tight bounds to no success. Annabeth's eyes frantically examined her ropes, looking for a way to free herself._

_Crusty shook his head slightly, but Percy's eyes were locked on his friends. "Can't stand imperfect measurements," Crusty muttered. "Ergo!"_

_From the upper and lower ends of the beds, ropes lashed out, entwined themselves around Annabeth's and Grover's ankles and armpits, and began to tighten; as a result, Annabeth and Grover were being pulled on both ends._

o

"Ow!" Everyone groaned, watching with sick fascination.

"You know, that reminds me of dismemberment," Hermione said, looking disgusted.

"Dismemberment?" Ginny asked. Apollo paused the film, assuming they were going to have a full conversation again.

"It's the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing," Percy Weasley told her. "It's practiced on human beings as a form of capital punishment."

Everyone shivered at the thought. The wizards thought that the Cruciatus Curse, Sectumsempra and Avada Kedavra were worse than that, but nevertheless, it was a horrible way to be tortured and then killed.

Travis tilted his head to the side. "Hey, that reminds me of what happened to General Ming in the third Mummy movie," he said, looking at Conner. "You know, around the beginning of the movie?"

Conner nodded, thinking back to that. "Oh, yeah, he was torn apart by horses," he said. "Disgusting, that was. But at least we didn't have to see it."

Percy sat up. "Wait, you guys watched that without me?" he asked, crestfallen. "When?"

Conner and Travis looked sheepish. "Um, in the Plaza Hotel, while we were resting up," Conner said. "You were sleeping, and Thalia said not to wake you."

Thalia's eyes widened. "That's why you wanted to wake him up?" she asked incredulously. They nodded and she sighed. Then she perked up. "Wait, why didn't you invite ME?" As the Stolls started to squirm around, she began laughing. "Just teasing you guys," she said, grinning. "I saw that movie a long time ago."

Nico rolled his eyes. "We're off topic," he said. "Can we continue with the story?"

Apollo smiled. "Sure," he said. "I'd like to know how Percy escapes from Procrustes." Then his head perked up like he was listening to someone. "Oh, I already do."

"Pro-who?" Ron asked. Then he glanced at the screen. "Crusty?"

Apollo nodded. "Procrustes, a son of Poseidon."

Percy's eyes widened. "He's a son of Poseidon, too?" he asked in surprise.

Annabeth nodded. "You didn't know that?" When Percy shook his head, she sighed. "Honestly, Percy?"

"It wouldn't have mattered," Apollo said. "He doesn't take sympathy on anyone, even his brother. Theseus was his half-brother too. That didn't stop Procrustes from trying to kill him."

Percy nodded. "Okay, that part of the story I remember," he said.

"What part?" Neville asked.

Apollo summoned himself a seat a little way from Hermione and sat down, tired of standing. "Well, you see, Procrustes lived on Mount Korydallos at Erineus; that was between Athens and Eleusis. Theseus was traveling to Athens on that road and came across Procrustes on his journey." Apollo entwined his fingers together and continued with a cheerful voice, "Old Crusty here was a terror to whoever crossed paths with him. You see, he had an iron bed - well, secretly he had two beds, one big, the other small. What he would do was tie his victim to one of the beds; if the person was too big, he'd cut them to fit the size. If they were too small, he'd stretch them and that would cause them to tear apart. Because there were two beds, no one ever fit perfectly."

By the time he was done, those you hadn't known the story before were now sitting quietly in their seats, trying not to throw up.

"That's just sick," Ron groaned.

Apollo nodded. "You should see what the other monsters do," he said. "Procrustes didn't eat his victims, but most monsters do. Now that the modern day has better cooking, they don't have to eat raw anymore."

If he thought that would make them feel better, he was sorely mistaken. For the demigods, they didn't feel anything. They were far used to monsters perceiving them as food. The Brits, on the other hand, were not used to that. If it was an animal, like a dragon, or a blast-ended skrewt, or any other carnivorous creature they'd understand. The idea of monsters doing that didn't bother them too much because it was understandable, but if they retained human-like appearances... well—the thought of cannibalism didn't settle well with them.

Neville didn't have it as bad as the others. After reading the _Odyssey_ with Polyphemus the cyclops, and how he ate Odysseus's men, he just had to make sure he didn't focus too long on it. It wasn't just a story, it actually happened.

"Apollo, continue the film," Nico suggested. "George is turning green."

Apollo nodded and pressed the play button. Perce got up and poured George a glass of water.

o

_"Don't worry," Crusty said. "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"_

o

"Sure, it's at camp," Percy said. "Or in my apartment. Even the one upstairs is good."

A few of the wizards bounced back to normal with that lame joke.

o

_The scene shot to Grover, whose face was turning red. "Percy!" he yelled, gritting his teeth._

_Crusty dragged Percy a little way from Grover and Annabeth. Percy's eyes were sharp and unfocused. He glanced up at the giant and then towards his pocket. "Your real name's not Crusty, is it?"_

_The ugly man shook his head. "Legally, it's Procrustes."_

_Percy's sharp, unfocused eyes narrowed. "The Stretcher."_

_"Yeah. But who can pronounce Procrustes?" Crusty asked rhetorically. "Bad for business. Now 'Crusty,' anybody can say that."_

_Percy's eyes widened. The unfocused look vanished to be replaced by a calculating one that didn't really suit him._

o

"Can you pause that for a minute?" Thalia requested. Apollo nodded and pressed the pause button. "I always wanted to ask you about that, Percy. Why your expression's like that."

Percy looked confused. "Like what?"

"Like there isn't a thought in your head," she said. "Your eyes go all blank and your face sort of slacks out."

Percy's face tinged pink. "Um, I don't know what your talking about."

Annabeth laughed. "It's how he looks when he's thinking, Thalia," she said. "Most people call him clueless because of it."

Percy pouted. He hadn't realized that about himself. As Apollo continued to play the scene, Percy began to wonder how many times he would have to see that about himself.

o

_"You're right," Percy spoke up. "It's got a good ring to it."_

o

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked.

"Just watch," Percy suggested.

o

_Procrustes' eyes brightened at his words. He looked down at Percy. "You think so?"_

_"Oh, absolutely," Percy said in a flattering voice. "And the workmanship on these beds?" Percy gestured at them. "Fabulous!"_

o

"Dude, you sound like a fashion designer," Conner guffawed.

Percy glared while the others laughed at his attempt at flattery.

o

_The scene showed two shots, one of Annabeth, one of Grover; Annabeth was staring at Percy incredulously. A bead of sweat rolled off her forehead. Grover's eyes were tightly shut, his teeth clamped so tightly together that the only noise he could make was a strained whimper._

_The readers looked at them sympathetically, but reassuring nods let them know they were okay. They watched as Percy lured Procrustes into a conversation where the giant proudly proclaimed his work. Annabeth let out a soft cry of pain and screeched, "Percy! What are you doing?"_

_Percy looked momentarily panicked but he said in a nonchalant voice, "Don't mind her. She's impossible."_

o

Annabeth glared at Percy, who raised his hands defensively.

"I didn't appreciate you saying that," she said.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

o

_The scene went on to show Procrustes explaining what he did when his victims were too big. Procrustes repeated what Apollo had told the readers before, reminding them of unpleasant thoughts they had had before._

_When he was done, they visibly saw Percy gulp. "Ah," he said in a slightly shaky voice. "Sensible."_

o

"I don't agree with you," Nico said. making a face. "Your version of sensible must be different from mine."

Percy laughed. The situation wasn't funny, but Nico's expression was.

o

_Procrustes looked pleased. "I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!"_

_It was obvious to the readers that the grin Percy gave him was forced. The scene cut to Annabeth. Her skin was clammy and pale; she looked on the verge of tears. Grover made odd gurgling sounds. A tiny tinge of red appeared on the corner of his lips._

o

Percy winced. "I should have acting sooner," he mumbled.

"We got away fine," Grover reminded him, not liking the face that his best friend was feeling guilty for that.

o

_The scene showed a valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special bed. Percy's eyes fell on the tag and they widened. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"_

o

"Percy, now is not the time to think of that!" Ron said.

Percy rolled his eyes. "That's not what I was thinking, Ron." Rachel and Thalia laughed. "Just wait a minute."

o

_The giant nodded. "Absolutely. Try it out." He gestured for Percy to get on the bed._

_Percy took a deep breath. "Yeah, maybe I will." The readers held their breaths as Percy attempted to get on the bed, but then he stopped. He looked at it carefully. "But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"_

_"Guaranteed," Procrustes said proudly._

_Percy up on an unconvinced face. "No way."_

_"Way," the giant insisted._

_Percy didn't look convinced. "Show me."_

o

George laughed. "I see what you're doing," he said, grinning. "Wow, he has to be really stupid to fall for that one."

"He was!" Percy said, laughing along with him.

o

_The scene showed Annabeth's eyes widen in surprise. It cut to Procrustes sitting down on bed. He patted it proudly. "No waves. See?"_

_Percy nodded, his expression pleased. "Ergo," he said firmly, snapping his fingers. Ropes lashed out from the bed and curled themselves around Procrustes, flattening him to the bed._

o

The readers applauded Percy's cleverness to fool Procrustes.

"I wouldn't have been able to do something like that," Thalia admitted. "That was good."

"Thank you," Percy said proudly.

o

_"Hey!" Procrustes yelled in shock. He squirmed around, trying to free himself to no avail._

_"Center him just right," Percy told the ropes. They obeyed his command and centered him on the bed so that his head and feet stuck out._

_Procrustes's eyes widened when he realized what Percy was up to. "No!" he said, panicked. "Wait! This is just a demo."_

_Percy didn't seem to hear him as he uncapped his sword. "A few simple adjustments..." he said._

o

A few of the readers chuckled at that. His tone suggested that he was fixing jeans that were just a few inches too long and needed to be shortened.

o

_Procrustes looked desperate for a way out. "You drive a hard bargain. I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models."_

_Percy studied the man. "I think I'll start with the top." He raised his sword over Crusty's neck._

o

Despite them knowing Percy had to do this, it was unnerving to see a twelve-year-old boy holding a sword over someone's neck, ready to cut his head off.

o

_"No money down!" Crusty cried. "No interest for six months!"_

_Percy's expression hardened. With a small shake of his head, he brought his sword down on Crusty's neck. The minute the sword was halfway through Crusty's neck, his entire body exploded in gold dust, falling to the ground and blowing away in non-existent wind._

o

A caption appeared under the screen: Theseus used a similar tactic to defeat Procrustes on his journey to Athens.

The the scene ended with the replay button in the center of the screen.

"Now it's time for Annabeth to read the rest," Apollo said.

Annabeth opened the book. "Wow, there's not that much left," she commented

"That's because it was shortened, dear," Apollo said. Annabeth glared at him and he blanched. "You know, you look a lot like Athena when you do that."

"Good," Annabeth said, looking down at the book.

**I cut the ropes on the other beds. Annabeth and Grover got to their feet, groaning and wincing and cursing me a lot.**

"Of course we were cursing you," Grover said. "We were nearly stretched to death!"

**"You look taller," I said.**

**"Very funny," Annabeth said. "Be faster next time."**

"You guys are going to go through that again?" Travis asked skeptically.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at his question.

**I looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service,**

Conner and Travis smiled at the mention of their father.

**and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters "The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.**

"What does that mean?" Luna asked, looking at Nico. "'We are always looking for new talent'? part."

Nico smiled. "Oh, dad needs workers in the Underworld," he said. "If heroes are suicidal, they can go apply."

Everyone's mouths fell open in disbelief. It took all Nico had in himself not to laugh hysterically at their expressions.

"Not the live ones," Nico added. Everyone looked relieved. "But it's an option." Again, it Nico a while to stop fighting laughter.

"Okay then..." Rachel said, looking bemused.

Annabeth sighed as she read the last few lines.

**"Come on," I told my friends.**

**"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death."**

**"Then you're ready for the Underworld," I said. "It's only a block from here."**

"And I'm done," Annabeth said, handing Percy the book. "How many more chapters can we read after this?" she asked Apollo.

Apollo checked for the time. "Well, it's getting late," he said. "You all should go in early. After this morning's fiasco, you all deserve some extra rest. Just one more chapter and you all can retire until tomorrow."

"I can live with that," Ron said, nodding gratefully.

"Me too," Percy agreed, opening the book to the next chapter. "Okay, even for you, Annabeth, that's just weird."

Annabeth looked confused. "What?"

* * *

**Just so you know, at one point while watching the Jaws movie I let out a huge squeal that could wake up the neighborhood. I really don't like sharks. I can handle Deep Blue Sea more because it's less realistic.**

**I meant to upload this yesterday, but my computer was giving trouble to turn on, so I left it alone. As it turned out, one of the cords fell out the back and I wasn't smart enough to check it sooner. I find it funny that I went to sleep and in my dream I did. That's how I got the idea. Weird, isn't it? At least I was able to do other things. Did you know they were showing the Lightning Thief on TV last night? I was watching it and whenever I thought about something that shouldn't have gone that way, I'd say it aloud, even though I was home alone and no one would hear me. Gods, that was embarrassing, and if the director were in the room with me, I swear he would have thrown me out.**

**Okay, this will be the first chapter that I've done with the visual technique. Now, I'm not going by the official movies, so for Harry Potter, don't worry, I'm not going to describe the film versions. The chapters are relatively the same as before, except I gave it more visual detail according to how I pictured the part happening in the books. There are a few parts I added on from a perspective that Percy couldn't see. I hope that's alright with you all. Tell me what you think because I am very unsure of how I did the two part above. The dialog can stay, but the word for word is sort of out. [P.S: I put ' o ' there to separate the scene and comments.**

**~o~**

**To Jonathan: I'm not sure about visualizing whole chapters. That is something of a debate, but not something I would do just yet. To be honest, I don't have days planned for updating chapters. I'm horrible at deadlines because I forget them so often. Plus, my inspiration for this goes in and out, and I don't exactly force myself to write them. I want to update at least once a week, or even twice, if possible. As for Vena talking about the Roman gods, it will come up, but it's not important to the immediate storyline. Heroes of Olympus isn't exactly something I'm focusing on right now.**

**To JMac322: Well, the chapters are shorter for the readers. For me, not so much. At least when it comes from direct wording from the books. I wouldn't shorten it too much. It's just that detail takes up a lot of the story, and I'd like to keep the plot simple, especially from the books.**

**To toe walker: I know those musicals. I've tried watching them, but I couldn't stay still enough for five minutes, so I gave up. It's not exactly my taste. I see quotes from it on the internet, and frankly, it sort of annoys me when I see too much of it. I have nothing against it, it's just not my taste.**

**To Guest: Nico being that poweful isn't a good thing in this story. It can kill him. When Vena comes into the picture, I'll have her explain more of that. As for the position that Nico inherits, I can't talk about it. It's a secret.**

**To QuillOwl: Thank you. That review made smile.**

**To Youkay94: I found it ironic that as I was writing this, I got your review. As you can see, Chryses and his friends made an appearance.**

**To teanotes: I had considered this idea before, but I never thought of actually doing it for these books. It was actually the Demigod Files that I wanted to do for this, so you see the interviews visually. I'm still considering that too. And I did say that I won't do HoO until all the books come out. One comes out in a few months, and two more years for the others. By the time I'm done with Harry's books, those books should probably be out already. I'm not trying to rush it all at once. I'll need time to plan chapters bit by bit.**

**To JGS39: I do wonder what it would be like of they made the Kane Chronicles into a movie. I just hope the people who made the first PJ movie aren't responsible for it. I would go in that cinema and come out confused. I've never envision Nico as a corpse that much, but I figured that it could happen considering what he'd just been through. I sort of got the idea from watching Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (I'm watching that right now).**

**To lunalovegood0628: Oh, I already knew that. I looked up the series before I checked out what it was. I'm actually starting with the revival one, with the Ninth Doctor in series one. I think I'll watch the older ones when I have more time. I only have time for series with the ninth to the eleventh doctors.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Okay, to start off, thank you for the long review. I loved that. I don't get those a lot. Nico was only the first one to have an outburst and that's because his powers are more sensitive to - wait, Vena's supposed to explain that when she comes in. Sorry, you might have to wait for that, but just so you know, he isn't the only one with a power upsurge. There will be a few others as well. There's something about Vena's home that's affecting them. Enough said there. Vena will explain more about that and how that affects him since he didn't age in the Casino. I know, Vena has a lot of work to do. Oh, and I had Ron confront Apollo on it because he somewhat struck me as over-protective, especially of Ginny. I think that his main concern about Apollo is how he'll affect Ginny. As for the talk between Harry and Ginny, that was only a start for their relationship. This story isn't just about reading, it's about getting to know knew people and basically coming to heal from their most recent wars. That especially why I brought George here, because he is grieving over Fred (and before anyone asks, I will talk about Fred before they get to Harry's books). As for the weather here, I feel like I'm in a sauna. It's killing me here in the Caribbean. And congrats on getting into Ravenclaw on Pottermore. I'll PM my username later, if that's okay. I have my user name on my page, but without the numbers on it. And I saw the review for Apollo and Vena. I would say Apollo deserved the pigeon attack for a lot of reasons I can't say. And their relation does after Phoenix, Chryses and the other immortal children, but mainly Mika. That is something I can't explain. It's not for the immediate part of this story.**

**~o~**

**So that's it for this chapter. Tell me what you think of the situation with Mika and what you thought about the visual version of the chapter. See you later :)**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	24. Annabeth Does Obedience School

**Disclaimer: I don't a single thing from either Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

**Watched "The Mummy" while writing this. It's funny to me that I was working on Greek stuff while watching Egyptian.**

**I am ashamed of myself. I broke my rule of at least one chapter per week. I had meant to be done with the Lightning Thief by now, and I'm not even close. I've been working on another story, an original one that I want to get published when I'm done. So far, I only get one chapter done in four days, so I only have four chapters there.**

**Song of the Chapter - Disenchanted - My Chemical Romance.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**Annabeth Does Obedience School**

* * *

Apollo checked for the time. "Well, it's getting late," he said. "You all should go in early. After this morning's fiasco, you all deserve some extra rest. Just one more chapter and you all can retire until tomorrow."

"I can live with that," Ron said, nodding gratefully.

"Me too," Percy agreed, opening the book to the next chapter. He saw the title. "Okay, even for you, Annabeth, that's just weird."

Annabeth looked confused. "What?"

"**Chapter Eighteen: Annabeth Does Obedience School**." Percy didn't know whether to stare with a confused look on his face or laugh. "Now, I know you love school, but that's taking it a little far, don't you think?" Now he was just teasing her.

Annabeth groaned. "What are with these titles?" she asked.

Apollo chuckled. "They're funny," he said. When Annabeth glared his smile faltered slightly, but he kept it in tact. "Wow, you really look like Athena when you do that..."

"What's obedience school?" Ron asked.

"A place you should be," Ginny muttered under her breath. George heard her, smiled to himself, and then, without warning, began tickling her sides. "Ah! G-George! Stop it!" That only made George tickle her more. Only when Ginny whacked him on the head did he stop. Her breathing was shaky from laughter and it took a lot for her to sit up right.

"Don't—do—that," she panted. "You know how much I hate tickles..."

George snickered. "Why do you think I tickle you?"

Ginny glared.

Percy bit his lower lip so he wouldn't smile. "Can I read now?" Everyone nodded so he started the chapter.

**We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.**

"What's DOA stand for?" Luna asked.

"Dead on Arrival," Nico answered.

"Oh," Luna said. "That makes sense."

**Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.**

"So, how do you get in?" Travis asked.

"We paid a fair," Grover replied.

"'No living'?" Hermione asked. "Mortals don't see that, right?"

Nico shook his head. "No, they don't.," he said. "Not unless they're clear-sighted, like Rachel. Other than that, the Mist keeps it covered."

Rachel beamed at him, though she hoped she'd never have to see that place until her time had come.

**It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people.**

"Full of people?" Perce asked.

"_Deceased_ people," Nico said. "They usually have to wait in the lobby before going to the Underworld."

That was about the strangest thing the wizards had heard about dead people, _ever_. Even the Greeks who didn't know the process (Thalia, Rachel, and the Stolls) thought it was a little strange. Apollo didn't mind it much, but he didn't like thinking about it often.

**Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.**

**I turned to my friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."**

**"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan. Let me just say now that it was the worst plan ever."**

Percy looked up from the book and gave Grover a look.

"Sorry?" Grover asked, holding up his hands.

Apollo chuckled but a warning from Vena kept him from saying anything about that.

**Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"**

**"Don't think negative."**

**"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."**

Nico started chuckling darkly.

"That's a little creepy," Ron whispered to Hermione and Harry, looking suspiciously at Nico. They nodded in agreement.

**I took the pearls out of my pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given me in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.**

**Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."**

**She gave Grover a nudge.**

**"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."**

"I'm just wondering how you're going to find the master bolt with this time limit," Neville said, looking uncertain.

"Trust me, it was closer than you think," Percy said, grimacing. '_It was right in my backpack_.' "You'll see within two chapters, maybe..."

**I looked at them both, and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I'd almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake, trying to make me feel better.**

**I slipped the pearls back in my pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."**

Nico rolled his eyes.

**We walked inside the DOA lobby.**

**Music played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking ... transparent. I could see right through their bodies.**

"Duh, they're ghosts!" Nico said.

"I know that now," Percy said, disgruntled.

**The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.**

**He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.**

**I read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"**

Apollo groaned and Nico slapped his forehead. "Tell me you didn't!" Nico pleaded. Apollo shook his head. He had heard Charon rant about this too much for his liking.

Percy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Nico, I did."

Nico groaned. "Charon _hates_ to be compared to Chiron! They're _nothing_ alike! It's only their names that are similar!"

Apollo nodded in agreement.

"Who's Charon?" Hermione asked. "The security guard?"

Nico nodded. "Actually, he's the ferryman," he said. "He's the one sails across the River Styx to allow the souls into the Underworld."

"Oh." Hermione nodded.

**He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.**

**"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language.**

"Actually, it's a mix between Greek and British," Nico said. "He loves to speak Greek. When he learned English, he was in England for that. Sometimes I think he sounds a little Australian."

"That would explain it," Annabeth said. "Thanks, Nico."

"No problem," Nico said. "We're reading about my home, after all." It unnerved everyone how casually he said that, like anyone could live in the Underworld. Then again, his father did _rule_ the Underworld.

**"Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"**

A few people chuckled. Apollo rolled his eyes and smirked. Charon always did have a strange sense of humor.

**"N-no."**

**"Sir," he added smoothly.**

**"Sir," I said.**

Ron and Harry grinned; the remembered a time in their Sixth Year when Snape had corrected Harry that way - the only difference was Harry's response...

**He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."**

Apollo's lower lip trembled as he tried not to laugh.

**"Charon."**

**"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."**

**"Mr. Charon," I said.**

**"Well done." He sat back.**

"He's treating you like kindergartners," Nico sniggered. Apollo almost broke with him.

Percy scowled. "Shut it, Nico."

Nico grinned broadly.

**"I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"**

'_He think's they're dead?_' Nico thought to himself. '_That guy needs to get his eyes fixed_.'

**His question caught in my stomach like a fastball. I looked at Annabeth for support.**

**"We want to go the Underworld," she said.**

**Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."**

**"It is?" she asked.**

**"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"**

"He thinks you're dead?" Neville asked. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover nodded.

"Well, he isn't the shiniest arrow in the quiver," Nico said, shrugging.

"What?" Ron asked, confused by what Nico said.

"It's an expression," Thalia informed him.

**I nudged Grover.**

**"Oh," he said. "Um ... drowned ... in the bathtub."**

"That's the lamest excuse you could come up with," Apollo said. "A car accident might have been better. And this is coming from the god of truth."

"I'll remember that," Percy grumbled.

**"All three of you?" Charon asked. We nodded.**

"And it gets worse," Apollo sighed. Percy glared.

**"Big bathtub." Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."**

"I didn't understand half of what he just said," George stated, frowning. "I understand the dying unprepared part, but the rest is just weird. American Express? Cable bill?"

Ron nodded. "What's that guy talking about?"

Annabeth sighed and answered him before Apollo could. "You have to pay Charon in order to gain passage into the Underworld," she said. "In the ancient days, when someone died, the deceased person's living relatives had to put a drachma with the body. That way they could pay Charon to take them across the River Styx. They would have been paid for."

Nico nodded before Apollo could add anything. "In modern times, things change," he said. "You wouldn't find people doing that. With various religions come different burial processes. However, all souls end up in the Underworld, no matter what people think. Now, when you die, you end up in DOA Recording Studios, and trust me, it's bigger than it looks. When you arrive and you can't pay, then you can't enter the Underworld. So there are other methods, like the credit card."

"The what?" the pureblood wizards asked. Apollo stifled a laugh. The Wizarding World really needed to catch up with times already.

Conner looked shocked. "You don't know what a _credit card_ is?" he asked, astounded.

Ginny looked sheepish. "Are we supposed to?" she asked.

Travis shook his head in disbelief. "That's just wrong..." he said.

Hermione suppressed a smile. "Wizards don't use credit cards," she said. "That's why they don't know about them." She looked at her friends. "A credit card is a plastic card used by muggles. Their main purpose is for purchasing goods or services on credit."

Ron looked confused. "I thought you handled muggle money manually," he said uncertainly.

"Oh, they do," Apollo said, before Hermione could answer. "But mortals, or muggles if you will, can't carry large sums of cash on them all the time. They'd be constantly robbed at every second. That's why they have credit cards. They have money in their banks, just like how you all have money in Gringotts."

"Gring-what?" Rachel asked, bemused.

"Wizard's bank," Luna told her.

"Oh, thanks," Rachel said.

Apollo nodded. "Long story short, the credit cards are used in the place of money," Apollo said. "All you have to do is process its data and password into a machine and automatically, whatever you've purchased has been paid for. You can even use it to access money from ATMs. And I'm not going to go into what an ATM is," he added when he saw the look on the Weasleys and Neville's faces. He couldn't really tell what Luna was thinking, but she seemed to understand.

Ron's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yep," Apollo said. "But there's a small—not exactly downside, at least for some people—but the bank will send you a bill for these transactions. So you have to pay them back. The money's not free."

"It's best to have a debit card," Thalia noted. "That way you can spend your own money, rather than taking from the bank and having to pay it back."

"What's a debit card?" Neville asked. "Is that the same as credit?"

Hermione sighed. "Alright, let's make a deal here," she suggested. "How about we write down a list of whatever you don't understand? That way we can get back to it later, rather than spending the entire reading time talking about it when it's not a major feature to the book?"

"Wouldn't this BE a part of the story?" George asked.

Hermione shook her head. "The book said, and I quote: _'I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries_.' No where in that does it say anything about debit cards, and credit cards, and banking." She looked at Annabeth. "What do you think?"

The wizards were far used too Hermione's marvelous memory. The Greeks were not. They were used to Annabeth being like this. Percy picked up the book again and looked for Hermione's quote. He was impressed to see it was word for word.

Annabeth got over the surprise first and thought over what Hermione had said. "Well I'm sure we could work with that," she said slowly. "Apollo, can we have a notepad and pencil?"

"Sure." Apollo snapped his fingers and a yellow notepad with a sharpened pencil appeared in his hands. He held them up. "Who gets these?"

Hermione raised her hands and took the notepad from him. She jotted down 'Credit cards' and 'ATM' down on it. "There, we can talk about this later," she said, satisfied.

"That means I can start reading again, right?" Percy asked her. She nodded at him. He picked up the book again and cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you're supposed to talk about?"

"Just read," Thalia ordered him. He sighed and looked down at the book.

**"Oh, but we have coins." I set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash I'd found in Crusty's office desk.**

**"Well, now ..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in..."**

**His fingers hovered greedily over the coins. Then Charon looked at me. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through my chest.**

**"Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"**

**"No," I said. "I'm dead."**

"Be careful what you wish for," Apollo warned him.

The son of Poseidon grimaced. "I'll remember that," Percy said.

**Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."**

**"We have to get to the Underworld," I insisted.**

**Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.**

**Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.**

"Charon needs to be careful with that temper of his," Apollo said. "Underworld deities can have strange effects on the dead. Especially when they're moody."

The Greeks glanced at Nico, understanding what he meant. When Nico got moody, he did indeed affect the dead in ways that freaked them out.

**"Leave while you can," Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."**

**He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.**

"Good!" Nico said. "Charon can be greedy. I learned that the hard way. And no," he added, when he saw the others' expressions, "I'm not telling you what happened."

The Stolls looked disappointed.

**"No service, no tip." I tried to sound braver than I felt.**

**Charon growled again—a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.**

**"It's a shame, too," I sighed. "We had more to offer."**

**I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers.**

Nico and Apollo started laughing.

"Bribery! Nice one," Nico said approvingly. "That will definitely get his attention."

Apollo nodded. "Hermes would be proud of you."

The Stolls nodded in agreement as Percy smirked proudly.

**Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh ... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"**

**"A lot," I said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."**

**"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"**

"Dad hates that excuse," he said. "I sort of agree with him on it. Italian suits do not suit Charon."

"I suppose they would suit you, right?" Conner guessed, noting Nico's Italian heritage.

Nico thought about it and then shrugged. "I'll have to wait until I'm older to answer that. Right now, I hate suits," he said.

**"You deserve better," I agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."**

**With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.**

**Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."**

**I stacked another few coins. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."**

Nico's smile froze. "Are you crazy?" he asked.

"I didn't know," Percy responded. The others, sans Apollo, Annabeth and Grover, looked confused about what they were talking about.

**He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."**

**He stood, scooped up our money, and said, "Come along."**

**We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."**

**He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.**

**"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"**

"He shouldn't be allowed to do that," Hermione said, scandalized.

"Well, he does," Nico said. "Frankly, you can't blame him. The dead are a nuisance sometimes."

Hermione didn't look convinced that Nico's explanation was a good excuse.

**He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.**

**"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Nothing," Charon said.**

**"For how long?"**

**"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."**

"That's not fair," Ginny said, frowning.

"Life's not fair," Nico said. "Not even in death."

Ginny didn't look happy about that. None of them did. They started to wonder what happened to their loved ones who had died in the past, wondering what had happened to them all.

**"Oh," she said. "That's ... fair."**

**Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."**

"You death people are real cheery," Travis said sarcastically.

Nico rolled his eyes.

**"We'll get out alive," I said.**

**"Ha."**

**I got a sudden dizzy feeling. We weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.**

Percy stopped reading. "Apollo, the TV thing is supposed to start now," he said.

Apollo picked up the remote. "It's chapter eighteen, right?" he asked. Percy nodded. "Okay then. **Book One, Chapter Eighteen, Scene One**."

A title appeared on the screen, captioned: **Annabeth Does Obedience School - Scene One - Cerberus**.

A scene started under the title:

o

_It showed a close up of Percy closing his eyes for a few seconds and then reopening them; they widened. It cut to a shot of Charon: his cream Italian suit morphed into a long black robe, and as it closed in on his face, the readers saw his tortoiseshell glasses vanish, only for his eyes to darkened and disappear into empty sockets like dark, endless caves._

o

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. "That's freaky!"

"Tell me about it," Grover agreed.

"Sometimes he just does that for fun," Nico grumbled. "I hate it."

o

_Charon turned to look at Percy, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "Well?" Charon asked._

_Percy took a deep breath. "Nothing," he choked out. He slowly watched as Charon's face became transparent, like a ghost._

o

"Is that necessary?" George asked.

Nico shook his head. "No," he said. "Charon just likes doing that."

o

_The scene cut to Grover who looked a little green. "I think I'm getting seasick," he said, holding his stomach._

_The scene started to fan out. The elevator morphed until it was gone, only to be replaced by a darkness. It revealed that they were now standing on a boat, sailing across what looked like a river filled with what looked like garbage: bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed car nations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges._

o

"That's disgusting," Hermione said.

"That's the River Styx," Apollo said, pausing the scene so that they could see it properly. "I know, it looks terrible."

"Why's it like that?" Luna asked, her eyes wide at seeing a river so polluted.

Apollo sighed. "It's like that because of humans," he said. "The River Styx is polluted with lost hopes, old dreams, unfulfilled wishes that all humans have. When they give them up, they appear in the Styx. After centuries, this is what has become of it. Once upon a time, it was clean, but now it is clean no more."

Percy shuddered. It didn't feel very good in there, either. Apollo unpaused the scene and let it run again. They watched the small exchange of conversation between Annabeth and Charon, detail everything Apollo had just said.

o

_Thin mist curled off the filthy, polluted waters of the river. The screen tilted upwards to show the readers a ceiling of stalactites above their heads._

o

A memory ran through Harry's head, causing him to smile: "I never know — what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?" he had asked Hagrid, oh so long ago, and Hagrid's answer had been, "Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it."

Harry knew the difference now, but that answer had been amusing.

o

_Percy looked down into the waters of the river, watching the water churn. It was a sickly color; it glimmered with a greenish light, the color of poison. Percy looked around the boat. From what the readers could see, he was shivering slightly._

o

A caption came up on the screen: Both Annabeth and Percy was unnerved and anxious to be around so many dead people.

Nico sighed. "I was like that at first," he said. "Then I got used to it."

No one knew how to answer him.

o

_The scene showed a Annabeth's face. She was pale and her eyes were frightened as she looked at the dead people around her. It back up to show all three of them standing with Charon: Annabeth and Percy turning paler by the second, Grover standing behind them with his eyes closed his hands clasped together in silent prayer. Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand, earning a few snickers from the Stolls, but a glare from Annabeth kept them from saying anything. Percy's lips were moving silently._

o

A caption appeared: Percy was praying here. He didn't know who he was praying to.

Everyone looked at Percy.

"Eh..." he said, not knowing what else to say.

o

_The scene turned away from the boat and its riders towards the shoreline of the Underworld. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as the screen could show. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal._

o

"That doesn't sound good," Neville said.

"It wasn't that bad," Annabeth said, smiling slightly. "We got passed him."

"Passed who?" Ginny asked.

"Cerberus," Grover informed her. He didn't specify who Cerberus was and Apollo let the scene run, so she didn't bother to ask. She figured that it would come up soon.

o

_"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."_

_The boat finally reached the shore. The bottom of the boat slid onto the black sand, bringing the boat to a stop for them to disembark. The ghosts shuffled off, followed by the living. Charon remained in the boat, watching them go._

_"I'd wish you luck, mate," he said, "but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay rise."_

_The screen showed a shot of is hand with golden drachmas resting on his palm. He slipped them into a pouch under his robes and took up his pole again. As he sailed away, everyone could hear him hum._

o

"Ah, Barry Manilow," Apollo commented. "He does have nice taste in music."

Percy sent him an exasperated look. "We're going to our almost-deaths, and your commenting on his taste of music?"

Apollo nodded happily.

Percy sighed. "Why do I even bother..."

A few people grinned at him.

o

_The three questers followed the dead into the land of the dead. It wasn't how the readers expected it to be._

o

"It looks like a mix between an airport," Rachel said, watching the different clips of the Underworld, "and a New Jersey Turnpike."

"Is that really how the entrance to the Underworld looks?" Thalia asked. "It nearly looks normal compared to the rest." She was a black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. "Well, almost," she added.

"What are those?" Ron asked, indicating to the security detectors.

"Security detectors, Ron. I'll add it to the list," Hermione said, jotting down 'security detectors' on her notepad.

"There's even a tollbooth!" Conner pointed out. True enough, there were tollbooths there, manning by robed guards. They reminded the wizards of Dementors.

Nico nodded. "I know, Dad needs some updating," he said. "Daedalus is working on it now."

"Who?" George asked. "Dedalus Diggle?"

"No, Daedalus," Nico said, unsure of who Dedalus Diggle was, "Son of Athena. Good architect."

"He's _more_ than _good_, Nico!" Annabeth protested. "He's amazing! He—"

"Not the time, Annabeth!" Rachel input. Annabeth pouted in disappointment.

o

_A sharp howl of a hungry animal sounded in front of them, but there was nothing to be seen. The spirits of the dead queued up in lines, two of which were marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The latter line was moving forward quickly while the other two snailed on._

o

"EZ Death?" Ginny asked. "Like 'Easy Death'?"

Nico nodded. "That's the line to Asphodel," he said before Apollo. "Most spirits go there. The other lines are for Elysium and Punishment."

Apollo sighed. "I take it I don't have to explain anything in the Underworld, right?" he asked. "You seemed to have taken my job."

Nico blushed while the others laughed. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Force of habit."

o

_"What do you figure?" Percy asked, turning to Annabeth for her opinion._

_Annabeth studied the lines. "The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."_

_Percy raised at eyebrow. He asked the questions the readers wanted to say: "There's a court for dead people?"_

o

"That's so weird," Neville muttered.

"Not really," Nico said, having grown used to seeing the judges.

o

_Annabeth didn't look surprised at Percy's answer. "Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos,_

o

Nico scowled at the mention of the old king.

o

_Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields." She looked at the moving line._

_Percy frowned slightly. "And do what?" he asked._

_Grover thought about it. "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."_

_"Harsh," Percy said, grimacing._

o

"You mean 'boring'!" Conner exclaimed. "When I die, I'm NOT going to Asphodel! No way!"

Apollo smiled. No, Conner wouldn't go there all right. He'd go _somewhere else_...

o

_Grover shook his head. "Not as harsh as that," he muttered, pointing to Percy's left. "Look."_

_The scene showed a shot of black-robbed ghouls who had pulled aside one of the spirits and were frisking him at the security desk._

o

"Oi! Nu-uh!" George said, covering Ginny's eyes so she wouldn't see.

"George! I'm sixteen, not four!" she said, pushing his hand off her eyes.

o

_The scene cut back to the trio. Their expressions were a mix between disgust and sympathy_, so basically it was comical enough for the readers to laugh at them. Annabeth, Percy, and Grover smiled sheepishly.

_"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover went on._

_Percy nodded. "What're they doing to him?" he asked._

_"Special punishment from Hades," Grover suggested. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."_

_Percy shuddered, paling slightly at the mention of the Kindly Ones._

o

"Can you pause that for a minute?" Hermione asked. Apollo complied. "That preacher's mortal, right?" she asked. The Greeks nodded. "Why is he going through that? Is it because he's a preacher or..."

Nico shook his head. "Oh, no, that doesn't happen to people with different beliefs," he said. "There are different religions, as was said before, and their versions of the afterlife at differently viewed. He's not actually seeing this as the Underworld. He probably sees it as the Hell he was raised to know."

"But why is that? What did he do?" Hermione asked. "I thought the preachers and priests would go to heaven."

Grover spoke up. "Maybe they do," he said. "That would be Elysium, at the very least. But this guy was infamous. He was a televangelist from upstate New York."

Rachel sat up. "Oh, I remember him!" she said, snapping her fingers. "He was the guy who raised millions of dollars for orphanages!"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Harry asked.

"It would be if he hadn't spent the money on _himself_," Rachel said, sounding disgusted. "He was busy buying expensive stuff and renovating his mansion. I heard that he had a putt-putt golf course, a big swimming pool—"

"Not to mention the gold-plated toilets," Percy added.

"That too," Rachel said, nodding. "When it was discovered what he was really doing, he tried to make a run for it. He drove his '_Lamborghini for the Lord_'—" She made commas with her fingers, "—off a cliff when being chased by the police."

"I think I saw him in Punishment," Nico said, thinking hard. "Oh, yeah, I did. His punishment was _not_ pretty."

"What was it?" Travis asked.

Nico shivered. "Trust me. You don't want to know," he said.

Hearing that from the son of Hades made everyone else shivered. If it unnerved _him_, gods knew it would do worse to the rest of them. Apollo waited to see if they would talk more. When they didn't, he unpaused the scene.

o

_Percy looked away from the preacher. "But if he's a preacher and he believes in a different hell..." He looked at Grover for an answer instead of Annabeth._

_Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it?" he asked. "Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er," he looked sheepish, "persistent, that way."_

o

Everyone chuckled at Grover's slip.

o

_The trio went to the EZ Death Line, approaching ever closer to the gates. The howling of what sounded as several loud dogs got louder as the three got closer to the gates. A green mist shimmer in front of them, causing Percy to halt, preventing Annabeth and Grover from walking past. Standing before them were huge, transparent paws. Percy's eyes slowly trailed from the feet up. The scene itself followed him, showing a shot of the ground to where Percy's eyes were focused._

o

"Fluffy?" Harry, Hermione, and Ron exclaimed in surprise.

Apollo paused the shot on Cerberus's face. "Fluffy?" he asked, looking at them in surprise. "That's Cerberus!"

"Cerberus is a three-headed dog?" Hermione said, gaping.

"Except this thing isn't solid like Fluffy," Ron added.

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry said. He gestured towards Percy, Grover, and Annabeth. "_They_ comes across this time on his first quest. _We_ came across one in my first year... What are the odds?"

"I know!" Hermione said, still in shock.

Percy Weasley sat up. "What?! You came across a three-headed dog?" he asked sharply. "When was that?"

Ron gulped. He forgot that those details hadn't been fully explained to his siblings and parents. "How do you think I got to McGonagall's chess set?" he asked weakly.

Perce's eyes widened. "Mum—Dumbledore—what?" He gaped at the Golden Trio. He cleared his throat. "No one told me about a three-headed dog!" He shook his head, realizing that it must have happened at the end of the year. "How did you even get NEAR a three-headed dog? Was it in the castle?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, it was huge! And solid!" he said. "I was so scared when I saw it—"

"Wait!" Ginny looked at him in surprise. "You saw a three-headed dog?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, I did," he said. "I was with Harry, Ron, and Hermione when—"

Ginny groaned. "_Of course_ it would happen when you're around them!"

Thalia waved her arms in the air. "Hold on! Hold on!" she called. "_Rewind_ and _freeze!_" Everyone looked at her. "Can _someone_ tell me what's going on? Why are you referring to Cerberus as a species, and can someone explain how you guys came across it?"

The room was quite for a while. Then Hermione sighed and spoke up. "Well, it would be explained in Harry's book, I suppose," she said slowly. "You see, Hagrid got a three-headed dog—"

"And of course it would be Hagrid," Perce groaned, shaking his head. "How many dangerous creatures does he bring around you?"

Ron glared. "Hey, it's not that bad," he said. "We just don't go near Fluffy, that's all."

"And he named it _Fluffy_?" Ginny asked fondly. "_Typical_ Hagrid. Giving something _dangerous_ a _cute_ name."

Perce groaned. There was honestly nothing to be done about it, but three-headed dogs were classified as highly dangerous, like dragons.

"Long story short, we had to get past it," Hermione said. "In the beginning, we didn't know how, but we figured it out, in the end."

Ron looked up. "Nico, what do you do to get passed that thing?" he asked, pointing at Cerberus.

Nico frowned. "I pat his head," he said, bemused at the question. "He's a good boy. He's only ever threatening when he's angry or hungry."

"But he's not solid," Thalia pointed out.

Nico shrugged. "He doesn't look solid, but he is a solid enough to touch," he said. "He likes to play fetch and his has a fondness for red play balls." Annabeth smiled at that.

"What about music?" Hermione asked. "Does that affect him?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah, it does," he said. "All you have to do is sing and he'll go right to sleep. When Orpheus sang and played his lyre, Cerberus slept for a week, from what Dad said."

Apollo smiled proudly. "That's my boy," he said, smiling at the memory of his son.

"How long have you know this?" Harry asked.

Nico folded his arms. "It's basic knowledge for those living in the Underworld," he said. "Why?"

"Long story," Harry sighed.

Apollo checked for the time. "If you're all done, can we continue this?" he asked. "You may not age here, but the day waits for no one."

"Sure," Hermione said. Apollo let the scene play.

o

_Percy gaped up at Cerberus. The creature's six eyes and three mouths of sharp teeth looked solid against the transparent animal. It was staring down at the three living people._

_Percy's jaw dropped. "He's a Rottweiler," he said._

o

People turned to look at Percy incredulously.

Thalia said, "Cerberus is towering over you, he has three heads, he's dangerous, and all you can say is that he's a Rottweiler?"

"I thought he'd be a mastiff," Percy said, shrugging. "Apparently, I was wrong."

Rachel sighed. "Of all things..."

o

_The ghost didn't seem as bothered as the trio. They walked right under his belly is if going through a tunnel._

_"I'm starting to see him better," he said. "Why is that?"_

_Annabeth looked unnerved. "I think..." She moistened her lips nervously. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."_

o

A few readers shivered.

Nico scoffed. "Oh please, that's not the reason," he said. "When you get closer to him, the more solid he gets. From a distance, it's like he's not there. It has nothing to do with being closer to dying."

Annabeth folded her arms. "Well, I didn't know that," she defended.

"It was so obvious," Nico said, looking at her like she was crazy.

o

_The dog's middle head bent down towards the trio. It was slightly amusing to see him sniff at them, but the amusement disappeared when he started to growl._

_"It can smell the living," Percy said._

_Grover started trembling. "But that's okay. Because we have a plan."_

_"Right," Annabeth said in a quiet, forcefully calmed voice. "A plan."_

o

"I wasn't too fond of the plan," Annabeth said.

"I know." Percy sighed.

o

_They started to approach Cerberus very slowly. The middle head, the one who had sniffed them out, snarled. Then it started to bark loudly, causing Percy to wince and squint his eyes._

_"Can you understand it?" Percy asked Grover._

_"Oh, yeah," Grover said shakily. "I can understand it."_

_Percy looked visibly nervous. "What's it saying?"_

_Grover wrung his hands. "I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."_

o

"Was he swearing?" Conner asked.

"No," Grover replied.

"To bad." Travis sighed. The girls glared at him.

o

_Percy went into his bag and pulled out what looked like a broken part of a bedpost._

o_  
_

A caption came up: Percy broke off a bedpost from Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model.

A few people snickered.

"What?" Percy asked. "It was the best I could find."

o

_Percy held up the stick and cautiously approached Cerberus. "Hey, Big Fella!" he called up to him. "I bet they play with you much."_

_Cerberus growled dangerously loud and he bared his teeth._

_Percy gulped. "Good boy," he said weakly, waving the stick back and forth._

o

"You have guts," Conner said. "I'm about as bold as the next person, but against that, I would swim across the Styx if it meant getting to the mortal world."

Percy winced. "You don't want to swim in that, Conner," he said. "Trust me on that."

Nico grimaced. He still felt bad about tricking Percy before that happened, but it worked out in the end.

o

_Cerberus's attention was fully on Percy. While the middle head followed the movement of the waving stick, the other two simply stared at Percy._

_"Fetch!" Percy ordered, throwing the stick to his left. The shot showed the stick spiral in the air and drop into the River Styx._

o

"He's not going after that," Apollo said, smirking. "He's wouldn't be that desperate for a toy, even if Hades ordered him."

"Thanks," Percy said, trying not to glare.

o

_Cerberus stared at the spot where the stick disappeared. Then it turned its cold, baleful eyes back on to Percy, who was slowly walking backwards to Grover and Annabeth. The three-headed monsters was making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats._

_Grover leaned towards Percy. "Um, Percy?"_

_"Yeah?" Percy asked, his eyes not leaving Cerberus._

_"I just thought you'd want to know."_

_Percy gulped, still looking at Cerberus. "Yeah?"_

_Grover looked unsure what to say. "Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well... he's hungry."_

o

Apollo paused the scene. "You know, looking at this, you should have gone with Psyche's plan," he said. "That would've helped."

"Who's Psyche?" Luna asked curiously.

"Eros's wife," Apollo said. "I like Eros. He's a good friend of mine. Psyche's nice too."

"What's her story?" Ginny asked.

Apollo paused to see if Hermione would say that she should write the topic on the notepad, but when she didn't, he started to talk. Despite Vena not being there with him, he was sure that THAT would amuse her.

"Well, Psyche was a beautiful princess," Apollo said. "Really pretty. The mortals thought she was more beautiful than Aphrodite, and that pissed Affie off. She hates it when people think other women are prettier than her." He heard Vena cough in his head audibly, causing him to sigh. It wasn't exactly his fault he thought Vena was prettier than Aphrodite. Okay, maybe it was, but he couldn't help it, and he didn't care if Vena didn't agree. "She sent her son, Eros, to go and shoot Psyche with one of his love arrows. Then she would send a monster to her and Psyche would fall in love with it."

Those who didn't know that story looked stunned and disgusted. "I'm liking Aphrodite less and less," Hermione said.

Apollo shrugged. "She's prideful," he said. "Anyway, Eros went to do as he was told."

"I'm not liking him either," Ron said. "Doesn't he see how wrong that was?"

"He did," Apollo said. "But he's the god of love and beauty as much as his mother. If someone offended her, then technically he was offended, too. But that's not the point. Eros turned invisible, a natural gift to help him sneak up on people and make them fall in love. He went to Psyche's room while she was sleeping, and when he notched the love arrow into position, he accidentally cut himself with it."

"I remember that story," Annabeth said. "Eros was affected by his own love magic and he fell in love with Psyche."

Apollo nodded. "After that, he couldn't shoot her," he said. "He begged Aphrodite to let him marry her. Take Psyche off the market for mortal men. You should have heard him." Apollo started laughing. "Hermes and I were making jokes about it. Oh, he went from morning to night like a stubborn little boy. When Affie wouldn't give in, he stopped doing his job. Mortals and animals stopped falling in love and producing the next generation. Aphrodite got the blame, of course."

Ginny looked confused. "That's bad, and all, but I don't see how this has anything to do with the Underworld," she said.

Apollo smiled. "Okay, summarizing details," he said. "Aphrodite gave in and let him marry her. However, Psyche wasn't allowed to see him during their marriage. Don't ask," he added when he saw their expressions. "Psyche's sisters got jealous of her rich marriage. She didn't know she married a god, just a wealthy monster. Again, don't ask," he added when he saw Ron's expression. "When Psyche was pregnant—no questions," he said, seeing the mouths open to say something about it. They closed. "She went to visit her sisters. They convinced her to try and find out who her husband really was because—_blah blah blah_—they convinced her that he might want to eat the kid, and the gullible girl fell for it."

"Other than the fact that all of this is making me sick, what does it have to do with the Underworld?" Ginny inquired. "And why wasn't she allowed to see her husband?"

"Eros didn't want her to see him yet," he said. "He had his reasons. Anyway, one night, Psyche lit a lamp and saw that her husband was a god. She accidentally spilled hot oil from the lamp on him—" A few people winced, "—and Eros woke up. He was heartbroken that she betrayed him like that and he left. The poor guy, you should have seen him. He was a wreck. He's emotionally sensitive, being the god of love and all. Psyche was angry with herself and heartbroken too, so she went to Aphrodite's temple and begged for forgiveness. Affie, despite what myths said, decided that Psyche would have to prove herself. Most myths say she gave Psyche difficult tasks out of spite, but she really wanted to know if Psyche was the right match for her son. She told me personally."

"That sounds reasonable," Travis said. "But what does this have to do with the Underworld and Cerberus?"

Apollo sighed. "Honestly kid, brush up on your history," he said. "Psyche got through all the tasks with a little help, but the last task Aphrodite gave her was the final test, not just for Psyche, but for Eros as well. The myths all have it one way. I was there, and saw the whole thing. Psyche had to go to the Underworld and retrieve a box filled with a bit Aphrodite's beauty, but it was actually filled with a sleeping spell from Hypnos and Morpheus. The box was in Persephone's possession, and Psyche had to retrieve it. Now we've gotten to the Underworld bit."

"So what happened then?" George asked.

"Well, Psyche wasn't to eat any food from the Underworld," Apollo said. "That would keep her there." Nico nodded. "She baked two barley cakes, but they weren't for her. She paid Charon to take her across the Styx. Then she came to Cerberus. He didn't attack her because she fed him one of the barley cakes. He was hungry, see."

"And he let her pass!" Annabeth recalled. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

Percy looked disgruntled. "Wait, you're telling me that all we had to do was get him some food? And he would have let us pass?" he asked. "Are you kidding me?"

Ron looked confused. "Where would the food go if he was transparent?" he asked.

Nico sighed. "He's not THAT transparent," he said. "Cerberus isn't exactly a ghost. He solid enough to eat and play. He functions like a regular dog."

Hermione frowned. "Apollo, why didn't you just tell us the ending rather than the whole thing?" she asked. "It has nothing to do with Percy's quest."

Apollo smirked. "Well, for starters, you didn't write it down on the notepad and neither did you stop me," he said. "Plus, I was going to tell you that last part only. I only explained everything else because Ginny asked about Psyche's history."

"Oh." Hermione said, blushing. "Too late now, I suppose."

"Yeah," Apollo said

As he was about to play the scene again, Neville spoke up. "You didn't finish the story," he said. "What happened? Did she get the box?"

Apollo looked at the notepad. "Should you write this down or not?" he asked.

Hermione seemed uncomfortable with a god asking her opinion on this. "Just finish the story and we can back to Percy's quest," she said.

Apollo nodded. "Okay then," he said. "Well, Psyche when to the palace for the box. Hades and Persephone knew what had been planned, so they didn't give her any trouble because there was only so much a pregnant woman could take."

"I'd forgotten she was pregnant," Ginny said. "And she had to go through all this?"

Apollo nodded. "Persephone gave her the box and Psyche went on her way," Apollo explained. "Psyche gave Cerberus the other barley cake as she left, so he wouldn't harm her, just in case. She paid Charon to take her back across the Styx, and then she was in the world of the living again. After this, she set out to go back to Aphrodite's temple, but she didn't want to be seen so unrepresentable, so she decided to take some beauty from the box." Apollo started laughing. "Oh, that always gets me."

"What does?" Grover asked.

"Taking beauty from a box," Apollo chortled. "Ah, how gullible the mortals were. You can't put _beauty_ in a box. You could put beauty _products_ in one, but not actual _beauty._ Oh, Poseidon went R.O.F.L with that one!"

"R.O.F.L?" Perce asked.

"'Rolling—On—Floor—Laughing'," Travis spoke up.

Apollo nodded. "And by then, Eros came to forgive her, so he went to find her."

"At long last," Ginny said.

"And then he found her sleeping," Apollo continued. "When Psyche opened the box, the sleeping spell went into her and she fell into a deep sleep. When Eros found her, he reversed the effects with a godly kiss. That drew the magic out of her and she woke up."

"That sounds a bit like Sleeping Beauty," Hermione commented. "Or even Snow White."

Apollo shrugged. "I guess it does, but the written myths said he just wiped the sleep off her face. As if! Sleeping Beauty is a lot like Sun, Moon, and Talia, that's not the point," he said. "I know that _Beauty and the Beast_ was inspired by this, but that's not the point either. Eros went to Zeus and asked him to make Psyche his immortal wife. He complied and Psyche was brought to Olympus and made immortal. They have a daughter from that story. Hedone's a sweetheart."

"They're still okay, then?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, they are," Apollo said. "Living happily on Olympus."

"What happened to the sisters?" Ron asked.

"Um, they died when they jumped off the cliff," Apollo informed him. Apparently he'd forgotten he left out a few details because most of the readers were confused.

"Why'd they jump off a cliff?" Luna asked.

Apollo sighed. He summoned himself a notebook and a pen. "Eros and Psyche to be explained later," he said. "I did summarize this, after all. And I've already taken up too much time with it."

"Can't you say now?" Ginny asked.

Apollo groaned. "Can we move on already?" he asked. "Percy's story's nearly over. Psyche's story's done. Enough for today."

"Fine," Ginny grumbled.

Apollo checked for the time. "Huh," he said. "There isn't that much left. Just fifteen seconds. Percy, get ready to read."

Percy picked up the book, his head still reeling from Apollo's tale. Apollo let the remaining seconds of the clip play:

o

_The scene showed a shot of Annabeth's face. "Wait!" she exclaimed. She reached into her bag and started searching for something. Percy glanced at her with an "Uh-oh" expression on his face._

_Grover gulped. "Five seconds. Do we run now?"_

_The scene ended._

o

"That was quick," Conner commented.

"I said fifteen seconds, didn't I?" Apollo asked rhetorically. "Percy, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Percy said, opening up the page to read. It took only a few seconds for everyone's attention to turn to the book, though stray thoughts of Psyche's story came up in their heads every now and then.

**Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.**

"Um, what are you doing?" Neville asked. "That thing could kill you."

"I had a plan," Annabeth stated. "You'll see."

**She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"**

**Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.**

"I think I get the obedience school part now," Travis said. "Our neighbor used to go to those things. Acted the same way."

"Cerberus isn't used to people who aren't Dad or me ordering him around," Nico commented. "I'd like to see how this works out."

**All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.**

**"Sit!" Annabeth called again.**

**I was sure that any moment she would become the world's largest Milkbone dog biscuit.**

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Annabeth grumbled.

"Sorry," Percy murmured.

**But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.**

A few people wince.

"Does that hurt?" Conner asked.

Nico shook his head. "How would that hurt? They're dead!" he said.

"But it's got to be uncomfortable, right?" Ron questioned him.

Nico shook his head again. "No, it isn't," he said. "They just keep moving. If they can go through walls without pain, then through Cerberus's butt is no problem!" He froze. "That came out wrong."

It didn't matter. Everyone else was roaring with laughter.

"Nice one, Nico!" Thalia giggled.

Nico blushed, regretting his word placement. Apollo had disappeared behind the couch to regain control of himself. Hearing Vena's giggling in the background of his head didn't help much at all. It took a total of eight minutes for everyone to recompose themselves. A few giggles rose up every now and then, but eventually they were able to read properly again.

**Annabeth said, "Good boy!"**

**She threw Cerberus the ball.**

**He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snap ping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.**

**"Drop it." Annabeth ordered.**

**Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.**

"Gross," the Stolls said in unison.

"You're not going to touch that, are you?" George asked, disgusted.

"I had no other choice," Annabeth said, shrugging.

**"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it.**

**She turned toward us. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."**

**I said, "But—"**

**"Now." She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.**

**Grover and I inched forward warily.**

Ginny giggled. "They're not animals, Annabeth," she said. "Well, Grover's half goat, but the matter still stands."

Annabeth smiled. "From the way they eat, they're animals alright," she said.

The "animals" glared at her, Percy more than Grover. Grover understood that as half animal, she was technically correct.

**Cerberus started to growl.**

**"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"**

**Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.**

"You don't have to be so harsh," Nico said. "He's a big pushover."

"I didn't know that," Annabeth said.

**"What about you?" I asked Annabeth as we passed her.**

**"I know what I'm doing, Percy," she muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure... ."**

**Grover and I walked between the monster's legs.**

**_Please_, _Annabeth_, I prayed. _Don't tell him to sit again_.**

"I'd like to see how they walk through Cerberus's butt," George chortled. "That'd be a sight to see."

Everyone started laughing again. Nico hid his face in shame while Percy and Grover glared at George, who received high fives from the Stolls. Three minutes later, they were ready to go again.

**We made it through. Cerberus wasn't any less scary-looking from the back.**

"Not one word!" Grover warned the Stolls, who had looked ready to make a joke. They simply grinned at him.

**Annabeth said, "Good dog!"**

**She held up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same conclusion I did—if she rewarded Cerberus, there'd be nothing left for another trick.**

**She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.**

**While the monster was distracted, Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.**

**"How did you do that?" I asked her, amazed.**

**"Obedience school," she said breathlessly, and I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman..."**

**"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at my shirt. "Come on!"**

"For a person who reads emotions, I think you were a tad bit insensitive," Luna said bluntly.

Grover blushed. "Oh." He looked at Annabeth. "Sorry, Annabeth."

"It's okay, Grover."

**We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth stopped.**

**She turned to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at us. Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.**

**"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.**

**The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.**

"Aw, he likes you," Nico said, grinning.

Annabeth smiled.

**"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"**

**The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.**

"Poor thing," Luna said.

"I play with him, so he's not that neglected," Nico said. "At least now I know why he likes fetch and red balls now."

**"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I-I promise." Annabeth turned to us. "Let's go."**

**Grover and I pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"**

"Magic detected?" Hermione asked. "How was magic detected?"

Perce looked thoughtful. "Grover's flying shoes?"

"Maybe..." She didn't look convinced. Percy continued reading before she could ask anything else.

**Cerberus started to bark.**

**We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.**

**A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.**

**Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"**

**"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"**

**"No," Grover told me. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"**

"Thanks," Percy said, looking glum. "They aren't always that bad."

"I know," Grover said. "But you should just leave these things to Annabeth. She's better at them than you."

Annabeth smiled while Percy groaned.

**I wasn't sure about that. Even here in the Underworld, everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while.**

"Too true," Apollo said sadly. "It's because of all the hatred and neglect Hades gets from the family that made him so bitter. I remember the days when he was the happy one..."

"Happy one?" Percy asked. "Are you sure you're talking about Hades?"

Apollo grinned. "Look at it this way," he said. "Take ten-year-old Nico and sum his cheerfulness up to level of twenty. Hades used to be thirteen on the scale. Right now, he is minus fifteen."

Everyone winced. "That sounds awful," George said, grimacing.

"Tell me about it," Apollo said. "Being in the Underworld really changed him. Trust me on this, if you saw what he was like bad in the day when I was still a little kid, you would never have thought he was the god of the dead. Maybe the god of smiles and laughter."

The image was too hard to set. It just seemed too impossible, and Apollo could see that. He wondered if he could ask Vena to show them. That would be a big surprise for them.

**I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass. I pretended not to see Annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend.**

"That's it," Percy said. "Chapter's done."

"Finally!" Apollo said, taking the book from him and marking the page. "Well, that's all for today. You've all eaten enough to last for seven hours. It's night now. You should really go to bed."

"It's too early," Travis complained.

Apollo shrugged. "Not my problem," he said. He pointed at Annabeth and Perce. "The two of you are in charge while I'm gone. It's morning in American and the sun is due in the east. I have to go, or Artemis will chew me out."

"Wait," Annabeth said. "Earth is still moving?"

"Yeah," Apollo said. "Sunrise, sunset; day, night."

"But we're here," Annabeth said. "Won't people notice we're not there?"

"Nope," Apollo said. "As far as they know, you haven't left."

Everyone looked confused. "I don't understand," Rachel said. "If we're here and nothing has stopped on earth, then wouldn't it be obvious that we're not there?"

Apollo smiled mysteriously. "But you ARE there," he said. "You were here first."

That made no sense. "What?" Neville asked.

Apollo sighed. "It'll be explained tomorrow," he said. "I have to go now. Bye!"

"But—" Hermione never got a chance to finish what she wanted to tell him because he vanished in thin air. "That was rude," she huffed.

~o~

After Apollo disappeared back to Earth, Annabeth and Perce rounded up the others to go get ready for bed. It wasn't easy, seeing that they weren't tired. At least most of them. Nico didn't complain. Despite not feeling pain, his limbs were still weak, so when he walked, he stumbled a lot. He needed help to get up to his room. From there, he was able to talk care of himself.

As for the others, complaining got them nowhere. The Stolls gave up with Annabeth and secretly decided that they would watch a movie. Harry didn't give a large fuss over it. He went up to his room and locked himself in. He didn't need Ron and Hermione to badger him. Now that the reading session was over for the day, this thoughts were occupied by one topic only: Ginny.

As for Ginny, she ran up to her room after bidding her friends goodnight. George was actually tired, so he went to bed without much complaint. Ron wanted to talk to Harry, but seeing as Harry didn't want to talk to anyone, Ron figured it would have to wait, especially when Hermione convinced him to wait for tomorrow.

Percy and Thalia were disgruntled. They weren't tired. Annabeth had to walk them to their rooms and made sure that they were ready for bed. Rachel had been obedient, but she was in the same line with Percy and Thalia. Grover was sound asleep before any of the others. Feeling their emotions had worn him out for some reason. He hadn't noticed until then, but their emotion rate seemed to have risen overnight.

Neville had retired the night, but he continued to read _The Odyssey_. It was an unusual story, but he was starting to enjoy it. Luna sat by her window and looked at the night sky. It was black with indigo lights, a very pretty sight indeed. Annabeth and Perce were the last to go in. For an hour, everything was peaceful.

Then Thalia felt—or rather heard—a change in the airwaves. It was a high pitched buzzing sound that sounded like a television turning on. It was a faint sound that most mortals couldn't actually hear, but with her being a daughter of Zeus, it was easy to sense. She crawled out of her bed and crept up to the door. She soundlessly opened it and exited her room, only to bump into Percy and Rachel.

Percy clamped a hand over her mouth before she could let out a yelp. "What are you doing outside?" he whispered to her.

She pulled his hand off her mouth. "I could ask you the same thing," she whispered back. "What are you two doing?"

Rachel sighed. "Percy wanted to go to the kitchen to get something to drink," she whispered. "He needed a guide. What are you doing out here?"

"I heard a change in the airwaves," Thalia whispered to them. She listen around. It was coming from the rooms at the end of the hall. "It's from the Stolls' rooms."

Percy glanced at their doors. "Should we check it out?" he asked.

Thalia nodded. "Yep," she said softly.

As quietly as they could, the three of them tiptoed to Travis's room. Thalia, as delicately and silently as she could, turned the door knob and opened the door very slowly. She put Percy to peek inside because if Travis wasn't presentable, she didn't want to scar her eyes.

"What's happening?" Rachel asked quietly.

"Travis is talking to Conner," Percy whispered. "Something about vampires."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Vampires?" she whispered skeptically. "Did you hear that right?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Vampires... werewolves... remote control..." He looked up at the girls. "They're going to watch a movie. They have a TV!"

"So do I," Rachel said. "I didn't think of watching a movie."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, why didn't _I_ get the TV?"

Thalia sighed. "Both of you, move away from the door," she ordered silently, using the same tone she did with the Hunters. "I got this."

The two of them obeyed as Thalia pushed open the door. "Hello, boys," she said, walking it. "_Whatcha doooooin'?_"

The Stolls jumped at Thalia's entrance. Conner pushed something behind his back. "Nothing," he said.

Thalia raised an eyebrow and looked around the room. There were DVDs on the ground around them. Several were thrillers, actions, action-adventure, action-comedy, classic comedies, so many options everywhere. There was a huge flat screen mounted on the wall, bigger than the one in the common room. There was a sleek DVD player underneath, open for a disk to be inserted.

"It sure looks like nothing alright," she said sarcastically. "Really, what are you doing?"

Conner sighed. "We're watching a movie," he said. "We're bored!"

"And there's time to kill," Travis added. "We thought, what the heck? Why not? How'd you even know?"

Thalia smirked. "I heard the static from the television," she said. "A little trick I have, being the daughter of Zeus and all. I'm sure some mortals can do it, but I can do it better."

The Stolls looked impressed. "Well, I'm sorry if we disturbed you," Travis said. "We found out our room was soundproof last night. You can't hear anything from outside the walls, but I guess static works differently."

Thalia nodded. She was sure Percy was getting impatient outside the room by now. "So... what are you watching?"

"Van Helsing," Conner said. "We've seen in plenty times before, but it still fun to watch."

"Uh-huh," Travis said, taking Thalia by the elbow. "So, goodnight."

Travis tried to lead Thalia out of the room, but she tugged her arm out of his grip. He looked confused.

"I'm not tired either," Thalia said. "I'm bored, too. If I can't do anything else... Do you think I could watch the movie with you?"

She didn't figure it was a long shot. She would Percy on her side, no doubt. Maybe Rachel would agree too. It was just to convince the Stolls to let them.

The Stolls looked surprised. "You want to watch a movie with us?" Travis asked. "Seriously?"

"Not just me, actually," Thalia said, hurrying to the door. A few seconds later, she was back with Percy and Rachel. "We'd like to watch a movie."

Conner stared. "You guys want to watch, too?" he asked.

Percy nodded. "I would have been okay with finishing the book around now, but I haven't watched a movie in a very long while," he said.

"Does Annabeth know?" Travis asked.

Percy laughed. "If she did, do you think I'd be here?"

"He makes himself a point," Rachel said, nodding. "I'm bored as well. A movie seems like a good idea right now..."

Conner and Travis exchanged glances. "Okay, then," they said.

* * *

Ginny sneaked from her room to Hermione's. She knocked quietly on the door and waited. Within a minute, Hermione opened the door and peeked outside.

"Can I talk to you?" Ginny asked.

"Sure," Hermione said, opening the door wider. "Come in."

* * *

**Done at long last. A note to you, I can hear that television airwave stuff, and it gives me a splitting head-ache if I'm around the telly too long.**

**As I mentioned before, I'm ashamed of myself for leaving this off for soooo long. Three weeks. My other stories are more on a hiatus because I was so focused on this one, but then I started to focus on that original story that I'm writing. I'm not going to say what it's about but it's original draft is over 200 pages with over 100, 000 words, so that was a real accomplishment for me. It's my longest official yet, but I've decided to rewrite it, so I'm down to four chapters while looking at the original as a scrap draft. The new version is coming out a whole lot better. That's what's been occupying my time. I went bit by bit with this one, so that's why it took so long**

**I'm really sorry about that. Next week school starts for me, so I'm wondering how that goes down with writing anything other than my schoolwork. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.**

**~o~**

**To Percabeth Lorien: I really don't mind long reviews at all. I like to hear opinions on the story, not just that people enjoy it, but those are good too. Vena will come to explain many of the other details. Only a few chapters to go for her to appear. There are lots of Immortal Children. I've barely brushed the surface on that, but it will all be revealed in the course of the story. Oh, and Phoenix is Hades's child, not Nico's. I've mentioned that in the first chapter she was in. As for the gods taking care of Mika, I can't say that. Even Vena will have to find that out. And her parents ARE taking care of her. They just take turns with the other members of the family. Apollo will come in and out of the reading group, but only to handle his affairs on earth. Other than that, he will be present often. Vena's a different case. She works at home, and they ARE at her home.  
**

**To I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: Yeah, Jaws creeped me out a bit. I can handle Deep Blue Sea better because it's so fake. And I read the Demigod Diaries! It's fantastic. Haley Riordan blew be away with his story. Rick must be so proud of him.  
**

**To Youkay94: If you're taking about the Oath made after the war, it was lifted at the end of TLO. Other than that, there is no ban against the Immortal Children, especially those of the Big Three.  
**

**To BrokenRainbowsShatteredDream s: I haven't brought that part of him in yet. I guess I forgot to mention that his hair is long enough to cover his ears. They can't actually see that, and since he isn't bringing much attention to himself, they aren't really paying him much focus. It will come in soon, though, it's just to figure out when.  
**

**To Ptroxsora: I know how you feel about that. I was really upset with all the cut detail. I would have been okay with it if they had stayed more devoted to the actually storyline of the book.  
**

**To Wuster: Thanks for enjoying the story. I hope your writing goes well. I know mine can be a pain at times. I try to keep the characters as OC as possible.  
**

**To w0ifpup: ****When the characters are out of their element, they just aren't the characters to me anymore. They're strangers. I always try to make it as natural as possible. I'm sort of like Hermione that way. It has to have a logical explanation, even if logic is out the window.**

**To JMac322: I get the script from the books. I have all of them.  
**

**~o~  
**

**So, thanks for the reviews. Sorry again for the late update. I was supposed to start SoM by now, so I'm a bit mad with myself. I'm a horrible procrastination with my time.  
**

**Oh, and thanks for those reviews for "Nico, Meet Your Papa". You really don't find a lot of stories about Nico as a baby, and I wanted to do that. To the person who asked if I could do one for Zeus and Thalia, I'm not too sure about it. I can try, but I truly don't like Zeus. I like Poseidon and Hades, so that made it easier for me to write about them, but Zeus will give me drama. That's ironic since he is dubbed "The god of Theater!"  
**

**So that's all for now. I hope there weren't that many mistakes in this chapter. Bye now!  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	25. A Night of Secrets for All

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, neither do I own anything from Harry Potter.**

**Sorry about not having this up sooner. I've been focused on other things now that school has restarted. I meant to upload this two days ago since it was my birthday, but I ended up posting today. No matter, it's up now. I'm currently doing a INTE project with bread. Two of the slices are so disgusting that you don't want to hear the details. Ugh!**

**Song of the chapter: Pitbull - Back In Time. (I watched the Men in Black III movie. I thought it was good.)**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**A Night of Secrets for All**

* * *

"So, is there anything to drink here? I'm thirsty."

The Stolls were in the closet, pulling out bean bag chairs for Percy, Thalia, and Rachel to sit on.

"Uh, yeah, one minute, Percy," Travis said, pulling three dark green bags to the side of Travis's bed. Then Travis went to the vacant wall to the right of his bed. "Watch this," he said. "I found out about this thing this morning."

Travis knocked on the wall three times. Cracks immediately formed in a rectangle around that area of the wall, morphing like those maps out in the hall, but instead of a map coming to form in front of them, a mini-kitchen came up instead. It had a mini-fridge, a microwave, silverware, cups, and a cabinet labeled "Quick food".

"Whoa," Thalia said, gaping as she got up. "That's so cool!"

"I don't have one of those!" Percy exclaimed, sounding envious.

Travis didn't look too surprised about that. "Figures," he said as he took out a bottle of water for Percy from the mini-fridge. "Before I left my room this morning, I found a note on this wall. Apparently, both Conner and I have one. I'm not sure who else does too, but I said no one else from the American group. Maybe the wizards have one."

"So not fair," Thalia grumbled to herself. "Why do they have a TV and a kitchen?"

Conner shrugged. "For movie night, I guess," he said. "I wish we'd found out about it when we were watching _Rush Hour_."

"Which one?" Percy asked.

"The first one."

"I liked that one. Chris Tucker's hilarious."

Rachel opened the cabinet to find thick packet the size of square sticky notes. "What are these for?" she asked.

Travis grinned. "Have you watched Spy Kids?" he asked her.

"Only the first two, why?"

"Because of this." Travis popped the packet in the microwave and pressed a button that wouldn't have been on a normal microwave: Conversion. The light inside the microwave turned bright purple while the microwave "converted" the packed for one minute. When it was done, Travis reached into the microwave and pulled out two ham sandwiches. "Voila!"

Rachel's eyes popped out. "No way," she said. "Even the Hephaestus cabin build something like this!"

Conner laughed. "I wouldn't put it passed their father to make something like that," he said. "Aren't they always three steps behind him?"

"Who wants this?" Travis asked.

"I'll take it," Percy said, accepting the plate from him along with the water bottle.

Thalia looked at the cabinet. "Do you have burgers in there?"

Ten minutes later they were all in front of the TV. The door was locked so that Annabeth or anyone else wouldn't be able to barge in. The Stolls sat on the bed behind Rachel and Percy, choosing to eat popcorn that sandwiches and burgers.

"Why does it have to start black and white?" Rachel asked.

"Haven't you seen this movie before?" Conner asked.

"Nope."

"Geez, where've you been all these years?"

* * *

Ginny paced around her room. She didn't want to risk stepping outside her door and bumping into Percy. There was no doubt in her mind that he would patrol the aisle for a while, like he did when he was a prefect and Head boy. She waited for a reasonable amount of time before placing her ear against the door to hear out into the hallway. It sounded quiet out there. She waited for a little while. Then she heard faint footsteps and a door shut. She pursed her lips and walked silently over to the left wall of her room.

_Knock, knock ... Knock, bang_. She rapped her knuckles then her palm against the wall, using the old code that the D.A had used when Hogwarts had been governed by Snape. This basically meant "Coast clear?"

After a moment. _Knock, bang ... knock_, meaning: "Coast definitely clear." Luna made it clear that Percy Weasley was in his room.

Ginny carefully went to her door and turned the knob as quietly as she could. She peeked into the aisle. No one was there. Ginny raised the tip of her wand to her lips and murmured, "_Scintilla_", a spell her friend Tacita found in their fifth year. The tip of her wand started to spark. She gently blew the sparks out into the hall. The sparks turned invisible, continuing to their job of flying around the aisle to check for traps before returning to her wand, revealing their sparks in a light shade of blue. Percy hadn't charmed the hall.

Ginny had learned to be very cautious when she was in Hogwarts. There was no taking anything for granted. She had to learn that quick, especially with the Carrows breathing down everyone's necks. When hosting "raids", an act of protest where they either vandalized the school with their defiance against Voldemort or freed the poor innocents condemned to torture, Ginny had been responsible for safety, Luna for strategy, and Neville for authority. Raids had been practiced by the older students of the school from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, aided by the younger ones, hosted by students mainly from Neville's year. They only ever had four spies in Slytherin whom they could trust: Astoria Greengrass, a student in Ginny's year, Lily Moon, a student in Neville's year, and Graham Pritchard and Mafalda Prewett, two students in Fourth year, the latter being a distant cousin of Ginny's on her mother's side.

Some instincts and vague paranoia died hard, even against family. Ginny may have forgiven Percy for leaving, but she didn't really trust him all too well. It wouldn't have passed her if he put a spell in the hall to keep them all in their rooms.

Ginny tiptoed across the hall, relatively with stealthy easy, until she was outside the room with the plaque labeled "Hermione" on it. She knocked quietly on the door and waited. Hermione wouldn't be asleep after all this. No, even reading someone else's life wouldn't distract Hermione for long, not from what happened with her friends. Ginny didn't know how to talk about relationships with Luna, specifically because Luna didn't always understand where she was coming from. Hermione, on the other hand, did, right next to Ginny's other friends, Tacita and Narelle.

The door opened so that Ginny could see Hermione's brown eyes.

"Can I talk to you?" Ginny asked.

Hermione opened the door wider. "Sure. Come in."

Ginny entered Hermione's room. Just as Hermione closed the door, another door opened. Percy glanced outside his room but saw that no one was out there. He could have sworn he heard talking, but then again, he thought he heard a strange high pitched buzzing noise in the air. He shook his head and went back inside his room.

* * *

"_**I was beginning to lose faith, Victor. A pity, your moment of triumph is being spoilt over a little thing like—grave robbery**_."

Conner munched on his popcorn. "How is this triumph again?"

"Apparently, _Victor created life_," Travis said, mimicking Dracula's accent. "I still say he could have done it the normal way. Get a girlfriend!"

Conner snickered.

"With that hobby?" Percy scoffed. "Oh please!"

"Hey, if you can get one, he can get one," Conner said with a shrug.

"Hey!" Percy glared while the girls giggled.

* * *

Ginny flopped down on Hermione's bed. "Does he hate me?" she asked glumly, staring at the ceiling.

Hermione sighed as she came to sit at the edge of the bed. "Of course he doesn't, Ginny," she said. "Harry would never hate you. Why would you think that?"

Ginny glared at her exasperatedly. "I—was—talking—about—Ron," she said softly.

Hermione was embarrassed. "Oh," she said. "No, he doesn't hate you either."

Ginny sighed and sat up. "You know, there were times when I wished I didn't have so many brothers," she said. "They would always be so over-protective of me. Now I wish I didn't think it because F-Fred's gone." Ginny turned sad at the mention of her deceased brother. "I don't want Ron gone at all, but I just don't want him to interfere with my life!"

"He's just looking out for you," Hermione said. "He thinks that as the older sibling, he has to look out for you."

Ginny frowned. "I know, Hermione," she said. "And I appreciate that. But I'm not a little girl, no matter how short I am compared to the rest of you." She looked so sulky that Hermione had to fight a laugh. "I may look like a fragile girl, but I'm not. They always think I'm going to break emotionally, ever since what happened in my first year at Hogwarts. It took me most of my second and third years to come to terms with what happened to me, and they were really protective with me when it came to boys. After all, it was Voldemort's soul in that diary, and he was a man. They don't want me to get hurt by men, at least all the older ones—besides Ron; He just doesn't like me dating, period."

Hermione smiled. "He was your best friend as a little kid, from what he told me," she said. "I thought you were friends with Luna back then. He mentioned her once or twice."

Ginny nodded. "That wasn't often," she said. "It slowed down after her mother's death. She spent more time with her father, and subsequently that's what made her who she is now. All I really had was Ron. The twins were fun to be around, as were Bill and Charlie. Percy wasn't that bad before, but when he started school he really changed up. Then Bill and Charlie left the country, Percy was stuck in his books, the twins were always into their experiments... all I had was Ron."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Hermione said. "Ron just doesn't want to see you get hurt again."

Ginny laughed without humor. "How much worse can I get, Hermione?" she asked. "I've been possessed by Voldemort. I've been tortured by Death Eaters. A heartbreak isn't the worst thing that can happen to me. I'm as emotionally damaged as I can possibly be. There's nowhere to go but up."

* * *

They were nine minutes into the film.

"Why do I have a feeling something bad's going to happen here?" Rachel asked.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Wow, I never would have guessed that," she said sarcastically. "Helsing goes into Notre Dame after a monster, and the Oracle of Delphi thinks something bad's going to happen. Good job."

The guys laughed, but one glance at Rachel told them to shut up.

"That monster reminds me of Geyron," Percy muttered. "Or maybe someone else..."

"That's disgusting," Rachel said as the monster ate his cigar.

* * *

"What did you and Harry talk about?" Hermione asked. "He didn't say anything to us about it."

Ginny frowned. "He said he didn't know what to say," she said. "He didn't want to hurt me by telling me. He was wrong. He hurt me by not telling me. Why didn't _you_ say something?"

Hermione sighed. "I'm your friend, Ginny, but I'm also his friend. Sister, more like," she said. "I had to respect his wish of 'say nothing'. I didn't like it, but I'm not taking sides."

"I know, and I'm not asking you to." Ginny folded her legs. "I'm angry at the two of them. How is it, that they can run into a fight, risk their lives, be brave to idiocy, but bow out when it comes to relationships? I'll never understand men."

Hermione laughed. "I've learned to understand them, Ginny," she said. "Sometimes, I still don't."

Ginny joined her, feeling a little better than she had before. Her life didn't revolve around Harry at all, but he was still a part of her. That would never change. It was obvious that Harry hadn't given up his feelings. At least she knew that. But he had a loyalty to Ron that couldn't be changed. And Ron had a protectiveness over her that was hard to deal with at times. Percy and George didn't give trouble when he broke up with Percy—well, point be said that Ginny wasn't sure if Percy knew about it at all. Charlie and Bill had understood why after she told them. They had no problem with Harry. But why did Ron have to give trouble? He and Harry were near brothers. Shouldn't he trust Harry with her? He trusted Harry with his own life.

"I love him, Hermione," Ginny said softly. "But if Harry can't make up his mind about what he wants at some point, I won't wait forever for him to decide."

* * *

Neville turned the page of his book.

**"Phemius, you know many songs, on many different themes. Sing one of them, if these young men must have music while they feast. But tell no more the tale of the Greeks' return from Troy, for one good man I know of, who left that unhappy city, did not come back to his home and his unfortunate; even my own dear husband, Odysseus."**

**The song failed upon the minstrel's lips and his lyre fell silent, while the wooers gazed with surprise and admiration at Penelope where she stood by the door, and she drew a fold of her coloured veil across her face.**

"I wonder how she's going to react when she finds out he's alive," Neville pondered silently. "This book is so wordy."

* * *

"Who knew that friars and popes had a secret lair where they made weapons," Thalia joked.

"I guess they're serious about killing monsters," Percy said, grinning.

"I think Helsing makes himself a point," Rachel said. "He destroys the monsters who kill, but he kills them himself. That's sort of monstrous."

The demigods turned to look at her. "We kill monsters," Conner said, tilting his head. "Are we monsters?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it like _that_," she said. "But the monsters he goes after were once human, at the very least. The monsters you go after are not."

"First, we don't 'go after' monsters," Travis pointed out. "They _come after_ us. Only the hunters go after monsters. They're monsters by Helsing's logic."

"Monster!" Conner said ominously, wiggling his fingers toward Thalia.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up!"

They continued watching. The Stolls started to laugh when the friar cursed. That was one of their favorite parts.

"Huh, the prince is cute," Thalia commented, when he came up on the screen.

Percy frowned. "I thought you swore off men," he said.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I did," she said. "That doesn't stop him from being cute. I'm just saying he's good looking, not that I'm interested."

"What do the other hunters think of that?" Rachel asked.

Thalia smirked. "They think I'm nuts," she said.

* * *

"I'm not asking him to choose," Ginny continued, leaning against Hermione's shoulder. "I would never do that. Harry and Ron will have their disagreements, but they always stick with each other in the end. It would be logically impossible to pick one."

Hermione smirked. "Isn't Bill your favorite brother?" she asked.

Ginny giggled and ran her hand through her long red hair. "That's a different story," she said. "And it's not one we're getting into."

Hermione sat up, smiling. "Okay, then we won't," she decided. Then she sighed. "Harry's just trying to cope with everything, Ginny. We all are. I mean, he's at the Ministry every other day, helping Kingsley and the aurors round up remaining Death Eaters, attending trials, visiting St. Mungos to see and talk to the victims of the war, even helping me and Ron find my parents. And to top it off, he's still trying to cope with all the people he lost in the war; Remus, Tonks, Colin, F-Fred, several others." Ginny shuddered at the memories. "There's only so much a seventeen, nearly eighteen year old, can take. And he's wanted to speak to you and even Ron, for a while but I can tell he just can't face that right now."

Ginny frowned. She knew how hard it was for Harry these days. All the Weasleys had split off to help him as best as they could. Ginny was grouped with Neville and Luna towards the restoration and cataloging of the Hogwarts remains, but she could only do that part time: she'd had to stay at home to help with George. He hadn't coped very well lately. She had helped Mrs. Weasley the best she could. She was glad for Percy's books at a time like this. Though the situation was so bizarre, being stuck on what was apparently a different planet than her own, with children of gods and reading about their own journey to war, it helped distract her from what was happening in her life: the pain of loss, confusion of love, the grief that threatened to invade her soul at every second of the day... Reading helped distract her for a short time, but when they stopped, her thoughts always ventured back into the past.

"I know that Harry has a lot on his plate," Ginny said softly. "I never intended to add more. He's been through more than the rest of us, and he really does deserve a break. I wish he'd have said something to me. He barely even says 'hello' anymore... And it's not like I haven't got anything to do. Caring for George did push his limits. I'd never seen him like this, even when Uncle Bilius died. First it was the shock, then the anger—that scared Mum to wits end— then the funeral brought out the grief." She paused to think about George's recent behavior. "Hermione, have you seen him lately? He's making jokes again."

Hermione smiled, going along with Ginny's change of subject. "I wonder how long that will last," she pondered. "Reading keeps him from thinking about Fred, but when he's not reading, what is he thinking about?"

Ginny sighed. "Fred," she said sadly. "He isn't ready to talk about him yet, Hermione. I can see that much. It's not easy for him to be without Fred for so long. When we were kids, they couldn't stay away from each other for more than a few hours, and now he has the spend the rest of his life this way. It's unbearable for him."

The two girls sat there in silence. So many thoughts and emotions ran through their heads. To choose one as a topic was a really puzzler.

"Percy's changing," Ginny said. "He never jokes. Now I can hear a difference in his tone."

"You've seen it, too?" Hermione asked, sitting up straighter. "He's toned it down a bit, ever since Fred's death. I think that spending time with George loosened him out a bit. He's not as pompous as before. You can see it in his stature too. He's not standing like there's a ruler taped to his back anymore." Ginny couldn't help but giggle.

"Maybe the other Percy is infecting him," she suggested playfully, causing the two girls to laugh.

* * *

Apollo drove his Sun Chariot like he did every morning. Somehow, riding in a red Spyder Maserati wasn't as cool as it used to be. '_Maybe I should update_,' he thought to himself. '_Has a be a better car to impress me_..."

A small beeping noise momentarily distracted him. He sighed and pulled out his keys, pressing the auto-pilot that Hephaestus had installed for him, and took out his phone. The Sun Chariot continued its journey without its master's help. Apollo checked the screen. It was Artemis.

"Hey, little sister," he said playfully. "I'm shocked. You never call me." He was well aware that Artemis was the elder twin, but since she always looked smaller than him, it just seemed appropriate to call her that. Plus, he enjoyed seeing her face turn red. He could almost see the image in his head at that moment.

She sighed from the other end of the line. "I'm starting to regret it," he heard her mutter. Then her voice came on louder. "Can you please tell me what happened on Star? Thalia seems a little more—reserved—than before."

"Just a side-effect," Apollo said, waving it aside. "Trust me, Ari, she'll be back to normal in a week. She's going through quite a bit. And she doesn't even know it. Besides, the Thalia you have has been through more than the Thalia I'm with, so I can't answer your question. Not without Vena."

He heard Artemis sigh. "Only you and Vena can understand what you're dealing with," she said. "It gives the rest of us headaches. And the gods aren't supposed to HAVE headaches. Not unless they have a hangover from Dionysus's wine stocks. It can even confuse Athena if you don't put it straight."

Apollo chuckled. "This wasn't my idea," he reminded her. "Just let Thalia drink some green tea. You know, like the type that Mama used to give us when we were kids. That will help."

"Thalia doesn't drink tea."

"She does now. At least, yours does."

He heard Artemis make an annoyed hiss on the other end of the line and he grinned. "Fine, I will," she said. "Oh, and I need a new case of vials of that medication you made for us. Hermes said the stocks are going down rapidly. Dionysus and Father are taking them like drugs."

Apollo grimaced. "I'll help him refill it up tomorrow. I'll tell him to ship six more to you by this evening." He sighed. "How's your arm?"

There was a moment's silence. "It still hurts," she said quietly. "And the bruises around my ribcage are darkening again. Typhon did a number on all of us. Hephaestus is having trouble just standing up now."

Apollo took a deep breath. "Okay, when I'm done with this, I'll take care of it," he said.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. "It's working well?"

Apollo glanced around at the open sky as if worried someone was listening to him several miles up from the ground. "It's difficult to say at the moment," he said. "At least when I'm not here. Right now, my leg is killing me, but other than that, I'm doing fine. When I go to Star again, the pain will be gone."

"I think some of the gods would want to go with you," Artemis said, sounding wistful. "It still amazes me that the planet itself can heal you."

Apollo nodded. "Heal and magnify," he muttered. "Well, you'll need the permission of Vena's father," he added seriously. "It's part of his domain, after all. Even _our_ father can't get that from him without major difficulty. I'm an exception because Vena's vouched for me."

Artemis chuckled. "While I wish she'd give up on you—you're not worth it after all—I admire her persistence," she said, sounding both impressed and exasperated. "She still manages to draw you in and remain a virgin at the same time. What is it about her that strikes your attention? Normally you'd give up on girls like that."

Apollo closed his eyes. "Vena's not your typical girl," he reminded his sister. "She's chaotic. She likes to play. That's one of the things I like about her. But like you, she's a sadist. She enjoys watching me squirm in her presence. That's why you like her, I'm sure."

"You're 55% correct," Artemis admitted. "Just be careful. You know the risks with the both of us."

Apollo gulped. "Don't worry, Artemis," he said. "I'll be safe while I'm there. Nothing will happen to me. We'll both be fine."

* * *

Conner brought over the large bowl of freshly popped caramel popcorn and rested it at the edge of the bed where they all could reach. He laid down on his front, propped himself up on his elbows so that he could see better.

**Anna: "_Everybody inside!_"**

Conner rolled his eyes. "Where else are they supposed to go?" he asked, scrapping up a handful of popcorn. "The zoo?"

Travis laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Rachel tilted her head. "Hey, Percy," she said. "Doesn't that vampire resemble an empousa. The red-head."

Percy nodded. "Yup," he replied. When Anna fell on Helsing, they all laughed.

"Not a position I want to see!" Conner chortled.

Thalia whacked him over the head. "Get your head out the gutter!"

* * *

Ginny stood up and went to stand by the window. She looked out at the brilliant stars of the night sky. "Tomorrow, I won't say anything," she said. "He'll talk when he wants to."

"Does that mean you're going to sit between Neville and George again?" Hermione asked skeptically.

Ginny tried not to look sheepish. "Maybe," she said. Then she sighed. "It would be awkward to sit next to him after what happened today."

Hermione checked for the time on the clock by her bedside. "It will be tomorrow in a hour," she said, getting off her bed. "Ginny, you should get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow."

Ginny nodded. "Alright then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ginny," Hermione said, escorting her to the door.

Ginny used her spell again, just in case Percy went out for a late night check up. The coast was clear. She quietly sneaked down the hall, passing Neville and Luna's rooms to get to her own. She was right outside her own bedroom when she heard a muffled sob coming from the other side of the hall, opposite her bedroom. She squinted in the darkness to see the plaque there. It was George's room.

Like a shadow, she approached his room with soundless effort and quietly tapped the door. "George?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

The person who answered wasn't George. It was Percy. "That depends," he said. "Come in."

* * *

Thalia's attention was starting to ebb as Conner started to toss popcorn in the air and catch it in his mouth again. He missed a few times and popcorn managed to stick in Travis hair's hair. Soon, Percy was another victim.

"Oh, finally, a kiss!" Rachel said, rubbing her eyes from drowsiness. "I thought it would take Helsing and Anna forever!"

"What about the one with her and Dracula?" Travis asked.

"Ew!" Rachel groaned. "That was wrong on so many levels."

Conner missed another bit of popcorn and fell on Percy's head. Percy groaned and swatted it off, running his fingers through his black hair just to check if there were strays.

"Hey, Percy, I should ask, how's things with Annabeth?" Conner asked innocently. "It's a new world with a girlfriend, isn't it?"

Percy blushed, sitting up. "I suppose," he said. "I'm still getting used to it. It's only been a short while."

Rachel giggled. "You guys should note that Percy's not a romantic person yet," she said, smirking. "Annabeth leads the relationship until he gets a hang of it."

Percy turned blood red. "Rachel!" he exclaimed while the others roared with laughter.

"What? It's true! I'll bet anything that you'll get serious trouble with the anniversaries!" Rachel giggled.

Thalia grinned evilly. "I'll take that bet!"

Percy groaned and smacked his forehead.

* * *

Ginny entered George's room. The light was on, and on walking into the room, she almost tripped on a cardboard box. She peeked inside it and realized it was filled with Patented Daydream Charms. She winced. That product had been sold out at WWW. Many people had wanted to get out of the horrible life that they lived, even when the war was over. Thankfully, George hadn't resorted to them, but the products were still kept away from him at all costs.

Looking around, she realized that there were several WWW products lying around. It was a lot like the flat over George's shop. The purple and orange on the walls jumped out at her: purple background with random splashes of orange. The furniture was all white with a few flecks of black, like dalmatian spots. The carpet was a light brown, fluffy and soft so that Ginny would have thought she was walking on cotton.

"Surprising, huh?" George asked. His voice was hoarse. He was sitting on the middle of the bed, playing with the cuff on his night shirt. Percy was seated at the edge of the bed, looking at Ginny who was still standing by the doorway.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, cautiously approaching him. "I thought I heard you crying again."

George sighed. "Nightmare," he muttered. "That's all it was."

Ginny sat next to him and clasped one of her hands into her own. Any thoughts of her own problems vanished at the sight of her stranger-brother. George's hands were bigger than hers, calloused from his work at the shop. She could see a few scars on his fingers from old burns he got from the cauldrons. She reached up and brushed his hair off his face and behind his one ear. The other was well hidden under his hair. Ginny thought he needed a haircut. Otherwise, she and Bill would have competition.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly. "It's okay if you don't."

George tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "Ah. The books are mixing up my head," he said. "I keep seeing him in that place. Underworld," he added when he saw his siblings confused expressions. "Do you think he's there? In actuality?"

Percy sighed. "Maybe," he said softly, in a tone that meant he didn't want to burst George's bubble if he had to. "All the dead go there."

Ginny hugged George and he surprisingly hugged her back. "You can talk to Nico," she said. "He can answer that for you."

"Maybe," he sighed. Then he yawned. "I don't want to sleep. I'll get nightmares again."

Percy shook his head. "You need sleep, George," he reminded him. "Forcing yourself to stay up is not healthy."

Ginny nodded in agreement. "I think now is a good time to wish for Madam Pomfrey," she said, trying for a joke. "She'd have the right potion to help."

As if on purpose, the windows to George's room opened, blasting in cold air, chilling all three of them to the bone. Percy and George scrambled off the bed, almost knocking Ginny onto the floor, to get to the window and shut it.

Percy got a good glance outside. The stars in the sky were disappearing behind thin clouds. He didn't know why, but the thought of storm clouds immediately shot into his head.

"What was that?" Ginny gasped, getting to her feet.

"I forgot to lock the windows," George said sheepishly. "I was looking out there for a while. I can see the ocean from here. It quite nice."

Percy shook his head and locked the latch before turning around. His eyes scanned the room and dropped on something he didn't recognize. "Was that always here?" he asked, pointing at a strange glass bottle on George's bedside table.

Ginny and George looked around to see where Percy was pointing. "Where'd that come from?" George asked, mystified. "That's not one of mine, I'm sure about it. I've never seen that before."

Ginny stared at it suspiciously. The bottle wasn't remotely harmful. It was shaped like a slim pear with the glass tinted red. There were facets all around it so it sparkled in the light. Inside of it was a semi-transparent purple potion. The cover of the bottle was ornamented with a glass rosebud. Ginny picked it up and looked at the back.

"It's a dreamless sleep potion," she announced. "Like the one Harry takes when his dreams are too stressful."

Percy hurried over and took the potion from her for inspection. Fifteen minutes later, after lots of pacing, debating, and yawning, Percy came to the conclusion that the potion wasn't dangerous or a hoax. Genuinely, it was a potion that gives the drinker dreamless sleep.

"Does anyone else find that the odds don't add up?" George asked, confused. Then he yawned. "One minute, we're talking about that potion and then suddenly it appears. What is this place? The Room of Requirement?"

"I doubt it," Ginny said. "We're not at Hogwarts. And the room can only conjure basic potions. This one is considered more complex."

They stared at the potion for a while. "You think it's safe for me to drink?" George asked.

"You _want_ to take it?"

"Well... I have to sleep, but the nightmares will keep me up. It seems like the best solution."

"I don't know. I don't want you to get addicted to it, George."

"Ginny, it showed up only this once. Who says it will again? Besides, there isn't that much in it. Might as well give it a try."

Percy and Ginny still looked uncertain about it, but they couldn't stop George from drinking the purple potion. He fell asleep immediately and would have fallen off the edge of the bed of Percy hadn't caught him. Ginny helped him tuck George into bed. George slept for the rest of the night.

* * *

Neville blinked his eyes and yawned. He wanted to read one more chapter before calling in a night. He started off on the next chapter titled: XI Menelaus and Helen.

**In his splendid palace, great King Menelaus was celebrating with a banquet the betrothal of his daughter, Hermione, Queen Helen's only child,**

'_Huh_,' Neville thought. '_Hermione's named after a princess_.'

**to young Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, whom Odysseus had seen acquit himself so bravely in the wooden horse at Troy.**

'_Why can't Greeks have simple names?_' Neville thought wearily to himself. '_Neo—whatever his name is—is giving me a tongue twister_.'

* * *

Annabeth turned over in her bed. Her dream was most peculiar to her. While it wasn't anything bad, she kept having flashes, like visions, run across her head.

_The first was that of Percy, standing by a lake with a single tear streaming down his face. Another was of an unknown man playing with a handful of fire. In another one, there was a young girl with frizzy red hair, playing with her toy dolls. She could have been about two years old. She looked up with striking blue eyes, just like Apollo's._

_Then came a darker one. There were three cloaked figures standing before Cerberus in the Underworld. The one to the left had her hood down to reveal a beautiful girl with long dark hair, maniacal brown eyes, and a sly grin. The other girl, who still had her hood up, was wearing a gold dress. The one in the middle, obviously male from his deep voice, said, "Ciao!" as they vanished from sight into the shadows._

_Then she saw an image of herself with curly, shoulder-length hair, wearing a simple white shirt and pants. Percy, looking much older than he did now, was talking to a tall blond with blue eyes and a scar over his lip. As they spoke, they passed Annabeth. Percy hadn't acknowledged her._

_Another showed a beautiful young girl with sea green eyes and black hair. She giggled as she aimed an arrow at a target. She was being trained by what seemed like Artemis and her hunters on Olympus. She managed to hit her target and in her glee, her hair morphed into a dark red color. She looked around and her sights fell on the older Annabeth, watching from a distance._

_The girl's smile fell, forming into a scowl._

_The final part of Annabeth's dream, just before she woke up, was the image of Percy playing with water, forming them into the shape of piano keys and pretending to play. He was sitting next to a teenage girl who was laughing so hard that she had covered her face with her hair. In the darkness of the light, Annabeth couldn't see anything that could identify her. Looking at Percy, she saw something that froze her heart. A gentle tenderness glowed in his eyes. He was twice as handsome as he was now. What hurt Annabeth was that he looked like he was in love. It looked like it was directed at the laughing girl._

And Annabeth was sure that she wasn't her.

* * *

The movie was finally nearing its end. Conner had begun to nod off on himself, bumping into Travis every few minutes as the drowsiness took over. Travis was glad that the movie was nearly over, but he hoped that Conner didn't fall asleep in his room. The kid was no light-weight, that was for sure, so it would be hell to take him back to his own room.

"She didn't deserve to die," Percy said sadly. "And now Helsing is crying."

"I liked her," Thalia said. "She was tough."

* * *

Nico opened his eyes and sat up the best he could. There was something wrong. He looked around his dark bedroom, frowning as he pondered on what it could be. Everything looked normal. Silently, he crept out of his bed, wincing with the pain in his joints, and went over to the window. Surprisingly, his movement was faster. His healing was improving, at the very least.

The night sky was as calm and dark as ever. It was clear of clouds, so he could see every star in the sky before him.

"You won't see that on earth," he murmured.

The stars weren't tiny dots, like the ones you'd manage to see on earth. '_Of course, those stars were a long way away from earth, so of course they'd be dots_,' Nico thought to himself. _'These here are big dots_.'

It took Nico a while to realize that these stars were much closer to this planet than he thought. Some looked as big as sprinkles from his perception. That mean that, though they were far, they were closer that they should be. Nico frowned at looked out onto the lawn. The sky wasn't bothering him that much, but something else was. He rubbed his eyes, still very tired from his little outburst before. He shook his head and went back to bed. Surely, nothing bad would happen while he was sleeping—unless this planet was about to ram into a star.

Nico crawled under the covers and closed his eyes. He didn't see the dark clouds that began to cover the stars from his sight.

* * *

"And now it's done," Rachel said, getting off the bean bag while Conner turned off the television. "We should get to bed quick. If Annabeth finds out about this, she won't be happy."

Travis nodded and got up to turn the television off. "We should do this more often," he said. "I was thinking we could watch the Mummy tomorrow."

"I'm so there," Percy agreed, getting up to go to bed.

"Not me, I'm tired to that movie," Rachel said, yawning. "Maybe some other time."

"Agreed," Thalia said, walking to the doorway. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"G'night."

* * *

Apollo flashed back onto Star, stumbling in the hallway as he entered the mansion. For some strange reason, something had knocked him around as he exited the portal from Earth's Solar System to Vena's home. Something had been in the airwaves around the mansion, throwing his frequency off course for a few minutes. He hoped that it wasn't Chaos messing with him again. It wouldn't be good if the Sun God was lost forever in the Cosmos. Apollo shook that thought out of his head. Chaos may have hated him, but doing that would put Artemis at risk. Chaos was, at least, fond of her.

'_Vena, where are you?_' he telegraphed.

There was a moment's silence. '_The library_,' she replied. '_It's on the sixth floor_.'

Apollo focused on her for a moment, willing himself to appear next to her. His essence morphed into light as his molecules split into tiny light atoms, weaving through matter, and zooming down corridors and up several flights of staircases until he was outside the library. He'd forgotten how this place could change so often. Only yesterday had the library been on the third floor. On the outside, the mansion only had four floors. On the inside, the number always changed, but it never matched the outside appearance.

"How you navigate in here is still a mystery to me," he called out as he entered the dark library. His voice bounced back multiple times before Vena answered him in a quiet voice.

"There's no need to shout," she reprimanded him. "And I've lived here for many years. I've gotten used to the constant changing." She appeared by the window. Her curly bronze-gold hair was tied back and she wore a white top and blue shorts. "After all, this is a place of chaos. Chaos never stands still, ever. It's more ADHD than ADHD itself."

Apollo snorted. "Sounds like your father, all right," he murmured.

Vena pursed her lips away, trying not to smile or hit him at the same time. "Be careful, Apollo," she warned him. "It's midnight here. I'm at my darkest for the next six hours. Watch what you say to me."

Apollo raised his hands. "I forgot," he said. "Your multiple personality disorder has come into play now."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't have multiple personalities, silly! I just—morph emotionally."

Apollo smirked cockily. "Oh. So that's what we're calling it now?" he asked. Vena glared at him and nodded. "Okay then. I'll live with that."

Vena sighed, gently blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Why do I put up with you?"

"Why else?" Apollo thought as he cautiously approached her. "We have a looooooong history, Love. That's not something you just throw away, and you know it... I need you, and you know, above everything else, that you need me."

Vena smiled faintly. "How are you so sure of that?" she asked. "Is it knowledge? Or prophecy?"

Apollo stopped next to her and reached out to take a long lock of her hair into her hands. "Both," he said. "Neither." He curled the lock of hair around his finger. "Our powers, but we're different."

Vena reached out her hand and combed her fingers through his head. "That's not all we have in common," she whispered. "And besides," she backed away from him, "I have work to do now. You're free to help."

She marched off towards the books, leaving Apollo standing by himself. It took him a few seconds to catch his bearings before he joined her on the second floor of the library.

"That was just mean," he said, "Leaving me hanging like that."

Vena smirked. "You act like I haven't done that before," she said, looking at the rows of books. "Let me see. Let me see."

"Shouldn't you know everything in here?" he asked, looking around. "I mean, if you were in the heads of all the authors, surely, you know what they all say."

Vena rolled her eyes. "After all the information that goes into my head, I tend to forget quite a bit of it," she reminded him. "You have a remarkable memory, Pol, but you have to admit that you yourself can forget details."

Apollo knew she had a prove. "Score one for you, zero for me," he said.

She turned and raised an eyebrow. "When did we wipe the score?" she asked teasingly. Apollo groaned.

"Oh fine!" he huffed, looking put out. "Score 2684 points to you, 2572 points for me," he said. "Happy?"

"Very," Vena giggled, pulling a book off the shelve. "Hold this please," she said, handing him the book. She continued her search and Apollo slowly followed her.

"What are you searching for?" Apollo asked. "If I'm allowed to ask."

Vena hummed for an entire minute before she answered him. "Something for Nico," she said. "The solution Hades has given him is effective, but I'm looking for the original."

Apollo almost dropped the book. "The—the _original_?" he said, astounded. "Do you want to _kill_ the boy?"

She shook her head. "I'm not going to make it in such a large proportion," she said. "Just enough to hold him off for a while. Star is magnifying his powers faster than he should naturally. When he was on earth, it was nothing like this. We need to be careful, and to do that, I have to find a proper solution."

She found another book she had been searching for and yanked it off the shelf.

Apollo grimaced. "Vena, that potion is dangerous," he warned her.

"It helped Hades, didn't it?"

"Hades is a god! Nico's only a half-blood! You'd have to give him an extremely tiny dose just to control him in a day without burning him up!"

Vena turned to look at him. "That will be enough," she said firmly. "Apollo, I've seen this boy's future. He is not supposed to die from his powers. Being on Star is a risk enough. It's already tried to kill him. I vowed to Hades to look after that boy. He's been through so much. I had to grant him that favor." Her voice was being to rise. Her playful nature seemed to dim as her galaxy eyes started to take on the image of black holes. "I'm doing the best I can here. I may know lots, but that doesn't mean I know everything! One thing I do know is that if I don't find this potion, then I'll be responsible for Nico's death. So do you want to keep arguing with me?"

The room echoed off her words until there was only silence. The sun god sighed. '_Temperamental_,' Apollo thought. '_Why do you have to be so temperamental?_'

"It's in my nature," Vena replied, calming down. Her eyes reverted to normal. "And I got it from being in Aphrodite's company too much. Now don't lose these books." She put the other book she had found in his arms.

It an entire hour before Vena had finished collecting what seemed to Apollo as seven random books. One was filled with bedtime stories. Another with dinosaurs. There was one on the history of America, a Greek to English translation book, Jane Austen's '_Pride and Prejudice_', a mathematics textbook, and a leather-bound book labeled '_Time and Travel_'.

"What are these for?" Apollo asked.

Vena took a deep breath. "When I first saw Metis use this potion to heal Hades from his wound, I made a copy of the potion. It was so vile, so crude, so brilliant, and so horrible, that when I wrote it down, it was too much to keep in one place. I separated various parts of the ingredients and instructions and put them in different books. I'd change them every ten years. Even in my own house, I can't trust anything. This potion could be used as a weapon if not kept safe. I did my best at protecting it. I'd let the books choose their own hiding spots, so when I'd decide to seek them out, I'd have to search for them manually.

"Isn't that overkill?" Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow. It immediately went down at the stare Vena sent him.

"Apollo, when was the last time this potion was used?" she asked him skeptically.

"When we turned Roman," Apollo replied, looking sulky.

She folded her arms. "And what happened then?"

Apollo fidgeted before sighing. "We almost killed each other," he said in a resigned voice. "Okay, I get your point here. 2685 to you."

**~o~**

In the kitchen, Vena plopped all the books down in a neat pile. Then she started to sort through the books for the missing portions of the potion. Apollo let her work as he went to the freezers to collect two medium-sized cups of Cookies 'n Cream ice-cream. Vena went through the pages of each book, stopping at random pages that Apollo didn't understand, but figured that she would explain when she was done.

"So," he said, "What's going on with the demigods and wizards?"

Vena didn't take her eyes off of the books. "Well, for starters, the Stolls, Jackson, Thalia, and Rachel were watching a movie earlier. Van Helsing, I think."

Apollo smirked. "I remember that movie," he said. "Their ideas of vampires are way off."

Vena smiled. "Neville was going through the Odyssey again. I think he might be able to help the wizards understand a bit more of the books when they start of the Golden Fleece Quest." Apollo chuckled through a mouthful of ice-cream. "George was having a nightmare again. I thought it best to give him that vanusomnium potion. They were skeptical at first, but they realized it wasn't dangerous. He's sleeping peacefully now." She picked up another book. "Nico was being a bit restless while he slept. I think some part of his is rejecting Star's healing powers."

"Is that possible?" Apollo asked. His spoon hovered over his ice-cream cup. "I can't fight it. Not that I want to, anyways," he added.

Vena sighed. "Well, he's still weak, so he doesn't have a choice," she said. "Star is of the light. Nico's blood comes from the dark. It's going to be a little while before he fully readjusts. By the end of the week, he'll probably be able to run with ease, thought I would prefer that he not shadow travel for a while." She picked up her ice-cream up and ate a few mouthfuls. "I'm starting to worry about Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" Apollo came to stand by her. "Why? Did she do something?"

Vena shook her head. "Not yet," he murmured. "I don't usually see dreams, but I did this time. And that was because her dreams were visions. I don't think she understood most of what she saw, but I don't think now is the time for her to know. She's still adjusting to those big changes in her life. She doesn't need to add the White Age to the list."

Apollo froze at the mention of the White Age. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't talk about that now," he said softly. "You know, from everything that's supposed to happen then."

Vena fidgeted. "A story for later?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Deal," he said, looking away from her.

There was an awkward silence for a while between them. The White Age was considered a rumor to most of the gods, but Vena and Apollo both knew the truth about it. It was something they avoided talking about at all costs. It was a time far into the distant future, further than most would have expected it to be. It was a symbol that the Silver Age was coming to a close.

Vena sighed and looked down at her baggy gray sweatpants. She pulled up a chair and lifted her right leg onto it. She rolled up the pant leg to reveal straps attached to her leg, carrying a long bronze knife. Vena plucked it off and held it up for Apollo to see. The color drained from his face.

"Halcyon's knife," he breathed. "What are you doing with that?"

Vena shook her head. "It's Annabeth's knife now," she said. "Halcyon's long dead, and you know it." She saw the pain on Apollo's face and grimaced. "I didn't mean to be blunt about it. I know you're still upset."

Apollo turned away and stared out the window. "Of course, I'm upset," he muttered. "He was my son. If only he had listened like my other kids, I wouldn't have had to do that to him."

Vena looked at the knife. It reflected her image. She scowled at the sight of it. "This knife has a history," she said softly. "No amount of polishing will ever wipe away the history that it's seen. That's why I took it from Annabeth."

She could tell he was confused. She just smiled and continued her work on searching for the needed pages in her books. "The last blade I used was Anaklusmos," she said. "It was too powerful, having been in the hands of Heracles. I need the blade of lesser demigod here." She paused. "Well, Annabeth is a great demigod as ever, but you know what I mean."

Apollo nodded. "She isn't as powerful as the others," he murmured. "She inherited her mother's brains. She had no other magical powers other than the basics."

"Exactly," Vena said. "Star won't increase her intelligence, but I'm sure the library would do a number on knowledge. I can't use a weapon from any child of the Big Three. I learned my lesson there. Conner and Travis don't want to talk about their powers, but they're powerful, nonetheless. Their weapons would be dangerous to use. Annabeth wields a weapon that has had multiple owners, a.k.a, Hal, then Luke, then right to her. Just a tad of their powers were imbibed into the knife, strengthening it. It's not too powerful, but just right."

"For what?"

"You'll see," Vena said, searching through the last unopened book. "Ah! Here it is!"

Vena positioned the books in a neat row, aligning them in an order only she could understand.

"I knew that I would have to use this at some point. That's why I took it early. I just didn't realize that it would be so soon." Then she said in a soft voice, "_Kopeí kai na entachthoún_." One page from every book lifted into the air, perfectly straight, before ripping themselves from the books and hovering above the deities' heads. Then the pages slowly came to join together, back to front, until they looked like a very thick page. Vena reached out and took the pages into her hands before picking up Annabeth's knife. She stuck it right through the pages with a sharp, "Chht!"

"_Apokalýptoun_," Vena ordered. The pages burst into flames around the knife as it glowed blood red. Apollo backed away as he felt a part of his essence shake in his corporeal form, trying to flee the amount of dark energy bursting from the pages. Vena's hand began to shake, but she didn't let go of the knife. The light in the room dimmed until the only light came from Annabeth's knife.

"Uh-oh," Vena said; her eyes widened.

Apollo stared at her. "What do you mean, 'Uh-oh'?" he asked. "Tell me something's not wrong."

She shook her head. "It's going fine," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "I just forgot about this part."

"What—?" Apollo began before a quick vision answered the question for him. His eyes widened. What he saw wasn't too major, but it didn't look to good for Vena. "Uh-oh." He didn't even have a chance to stop her.

Energy from the knife reached the breaking point. The level of power splayed out like a supernova at an amazing speed. It was enough to knock Apollo fifteen feet in the air. He landed behind the table, disoriented. Vena got it worse. She was the one to hold the knife, so over course, she was the one thrown into the window. The glass broke away into a millions shards, scattering all over the floor. Vena barely had time to break her own fall from twenty feet up.

The supernova explosion died away. The knife fell back on the table, as innocent as ever, but the page was gone. In its place was a thin booklet. It was black as night with tiny symbols written in red ink. Annabeth's knife glowed red, but slowly, as the heat faded out of it, it returned to its original color.

The room itself was still dark. Apollo's eyes opened when he heard a soft groan coming from his left. He sat up, his vision swimming from his recent hit in the head. He could feel the energy of Star seeping into his skin, ridding him of his headache. Even in the dark, he could see something moving in the shadows. Only when he recognized a few of that person's curls did he realize that it was Vena trying to get to her feet.

"That wasn't so bad," she muttered. "At least I wasn't the one where I shot _out_ of the window..."

Apollo focused his eyes for a moment and then the lights turned back on in the room. He jumped to his feet when he saw the sight before him. Vena was sitting up, rubbing her head. She was surrounded by pieces of glass, but that didn't seem to bother her too much. What worried Apollo was her back. She looked up at him and sighed.

"That bad, huh?" she asked, taking a peep through his eyes to see the damage.

"Don't move," he ordered. He waved his hand and the glass on the floor vanished, leaving him free to kneel next to her and inspect her back. He was glad that she didn't fall on it, or they would have been in trouble. Several long glass shards protruded from her shoulder to ribcage, and her clothes were drenched in ichor, the blood of immortals.

'_I'm going to have to see this properly_,' he informed her. '_You know_...'

Vena closed her eyes. "Don't peek at the front," she warned him. "I don't care if you heal me or not, I'll slap you."

Apollo smirked. "It's not like I haven't—" Her glare cut off his sentence. "I won't peek. I promise."

She resisted smiling at him. Apollo started to remove the shards from her back. She barely winced, preferring to close her eyes and summarize the history of the Titanomachy in her head as he worked. When all the glass was gone, he summoned a bowl full of water and bandages. He helped her ease her t-shirt over her head so he could see the cuts better. He pushed his feelings for her out of the way and took on the attitude of a serious healer. It didn't matter who the patient was, as long as she got better. He hated seeing the torn flesh from her. It took only a few minutes for him to clean off the blood, sterilize the wounds against infection, and then healing it up to a minimum. Star helped out a bit, and soon Vena was back to normal, other than wincing when she moved around. She left for a while to change her clothes, leaving Apollo to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

The sound of a glass being trampled on got his attention. He turned around but realized that no one was there. He heard the sound above his head and he glanced up. His eyebrows shot up when he saw witness the window repair itself. It seemed to be _regrowing_ glass. He wasn't sure how that was possible with glass, but he was sure that that was what it was doing.

"Star repairs the damage inflicted on any area in this household."

Apollo whipped around to see Vena standing in the doorway, wearing a light blue t-shirt and mint green shorts. "Does it really?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's father's gift," she said. "Chaos can improve as well as it destroys. At least, it does here."

"How are you feeling?" Apollo asked.

"Much better, thank you," she replied, walking over to the table. "Star's taking care of the minor damage. My bones have stopped aching, which is a good sign." She picked up Annabeth's knife and reattached it to straps on her leg. Then she picked up the booklet.

"Here it is," she said, opening it. "Hmm. I can get these ingredients tomorrow. I can have it done by the day afterwards..."

Apollo didn't answer her. He approached her and took her face into his hands, just so he could see into her weary galaxy eyes. "Don't you ever do that again," he said, dropping any humor or charm in his voice, sounding as serious as Hades. "You understand me?"

Vena bit her lower lip. "It would have happened anyway," she said. "I'm just lucky it wasn't worse."

Apollo opened his mouth to argue. Then he closed it again when he saw that look in her eyes. The look that obviously said she wasn't changing her mind on anything she was certain of. He looked away, searching for his cup of ice-cream, which was quite melted now. He started to eat it, waiting for Vena to say something.

She didn't say anything. She continued to pour over the booklet, reading over the ingredients and instructions. It was silent. Apollo started eating Vena's ice-cream to spare it from turning into a drink. Minutes turned into hours and nothing change. Neither of them looked outside. If they did, they would have realized that something was going wrong.

"So," Apollo finally said, not liking the silence one bit. "When I was coming in here, the airwaves were fighting me. Was that your dad again?"

Vena frowned and looked into his blue eyes. "No," she said. "Father is currently four galaxies away. He wouldn't waste is energy trying to knock you into oblivion from there. He needs to keep himself strong in those areas. They are tough to handle."

There was another moment of silence. She placed the booklet on her palms and willed it to shrink until it was big enough to slip into the back pocket of her shorts. She walked around the table and glanced out the window as she passed. Then she froze and looked again. "That's strange. Look at that."

Apollo looked around, apparently confused. Vena waved him over. "Look at those clouds," she said, pointing out the window. "They aren't supposed form that way. It's supposed to be a clear night."

Apollo joined her by the window. True enough, dark clouds were starting to hid away the stars, seeping through the sky and covering away the moon.

"I'm checking that out," Vena said, flashing out of the house before Apollo could say anything. He decided it was best to follow her.

* * *

Thalia tossed around in her bed. She wasn't having a ver pleasant dream:

_Something was chasing her. Something undead, covered in blood, and snarling with horrible fangs. The corridors darkened around her as she ran. Her only defense was electricity. She ran passed a window when something slapped at her, cutting open her arm and draining her blood. Without thinking, she summoned lightning from outside into the hallways, lighting up everything so she was nearly blinded._

* * *

Outside, Apollo and Vena landing in a heap on the grassy ground.

"Oi!" Vena said, pushing him off her legs. "You're not a feather!"

Apollo groaned and rolled off. "That's the last time I'm eating two cups of cookie and cream," he muttered, stumbling around until he got to his feet. "Did you feel that before?"

Vena nodded, pushing her hair off her face. "Something's wrong with the airwaves," she said, getting to her feet. "Something is controlling it. Nearly knocked us out of the sky."

As she spoke, a dark rumble towered above them, cracking through the clouds that now fully masked the beautiful stars in the sky. Vena's eyes narrowed as her jaw dropped. The rumbling grew louder, bellowing loud enough to deafen them both. Small drops of condensation fell on Vena's face. It was beginning to rain.

"What is Star doing?" Apollo asked, evaporating water off his face and arms.

Vena closed her eyes, trying to will the oncoming storm to stop. She opened her eyes. "Star's not doing anything," she said grimly. "I can't stop it. Something is manipulating the sky." She shook her head. "This isn't supposed to happen today! It's supposed to be a calm night!"

Vena closed her eyes again, searching for an answer in her head. The storm grew louder. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. Apollo's jaw dropped as the winds picked up, so strong that they nearly blew him and Vena over. Her eyes snapped open in alarm. The storm was powerful—almost as powerful as any storm Zeus could whip up.

The hairs on the back of Vena's neck stood on end. Her gut instincts sensed something bad was happening. A vision gave her a forewarning before Apollo. Vena's skin paled as she looked towards him.

"Move!" she yelled. She pushed Apollo out of the way, just in time to save him from the lightning strike that hit the very spot where he had stood. The crater left behind was four feet in diameter.

"Dear gods!" Apollo exclaimed. The ground sizzled before him. "That could have hurt me!"

The storm didn't seem to care. It was like a flash hurricane out there. The sea raged in the distance as the winds whipped around them, wanting to pull them into the air and toss them around at it's own leisure. More lightning flashed, lighting up the entire sky.

Vena gulped. "We need to get inside," she shouted, grabbing Apollo's hand. "Out of the storm, now!"

Apollo shook water out of his eyes. "Can't you stop it?" he shouted above the thunder. "It'll blow down the mansion!"

"I tried!" she yelled back. "It's not working! I don't do well with storms! That would be Zeus's and Daddy's jobs! Get inside! Now!"

It was too dangerous to flash inside. Apollo and Vena trying to physically stop the storm with their powers with no success. All it managed to do was drain them. Neither could understand what could be so powerful to subdue a god. Then Vena looked at the storm, then at the house. A vision washed over her eyes, snapping the answer into her head.

"You've got to be kidding me," she whispered. Apollo didn't even hear her.

"Inside!" she said, tugging his arm towards the front entrance. Five more lightning bolts struck down around them, but they weaved in and out as best as they could. The made it to the porch-way in two minutes. Vena opened the door and pulled Apollo in after her, shutting the door behind her as she did so.

The first feeling they felt was relief. That didn't last long as Vena flashed up to the kitchen, leaving Apollo to follow her. He found her in the kitchen, pacing back and forth, thinking. She hadn't bothered to dry herself, so she still looked like a drowned cat. Apollo had to admit that he probably didn't look any better.

"It can't be," she muttered. "It's too soon ... can't happen all at once ... it wasn't supposed to ... but it would be sense ... higher power first ... ages go down ... that would explain what's happening ... oh, I'd hate to see the next one..."

He marched towards her. "What was that?" he asked, point out the window. "What's happening? Are we near a storm planet?"

Vena shook her head. "No," she said shakily. "I avoid those. This is coming FROM Star. This shouldn't have happened yet! It's too powerful!"

Apollo grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. "What's causing it?" he asked. "Can you stop whatever it is?"

Vena looked grim. "Apollo," she said. "It's not a what. It's a who."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Think about it!" Vena snapped. "Figure it out; I'm not going to spell it! On this planet, the gods don't have an influence. But they do have something here. That storm is caused by something INSIDE this mansion. It's not you. It's not me. Who else would it be?"

Above the thunder cracks, lightning strikes, it took Apollo a while to register what she had said.

"It can't be," he said.

"But it is!" Vena protested. "I should have seen it when the storm clouds began, but it was too unpredictable. Bringing them here heightened their powers by ten! To reach that power on earth would take years! Even full immortality can fully unlock it! It's affecting the demigods first, because they have the closest ties to immortal blood! Then it will progress to the wizards!"

"But what you're telling me is—" Apollo tried to say, but she interrupted him.

"It goes by highest power, then ages!" she said loudly over the storm. "The demigods are the higher power! Now it's going to ages! First, it was Nico! He was born in the 1930's! Now it's starting with the second eldest with the demigod group, and it will go on like that until it reaches the youngest! I didn't expect it to start so soon! It was supposed to take days!"

"Then why is it changing?"

"They're unpredictable!" she said, grimacing. "Nothing in Star is set in stone! On earth, it's a different story! This wouldn't have gone out of control so soon!"

Apollo glanced at the storm. "So who's doing this?" he asked. "Percy?"

Vena laughed humorously. "Oh, please!" she said sarcastically, yelling to be heard over the deafening storm. "If it were Percy, we'd be covered in rubble or worst! Besides, his powers are still on default. He may be the son of the stormbringer, but he's definitely not controlling this. THAT, I am sure on! It's not affecting the sea as much as it is the sky."

Apollo's eyes widened. "Wait! What you say age, you mean date of birth age, don't you?" he said. "You don't have to be the physical eldest! You just have to born first!"

Vena sighed. "Ding, ding, ding!" she said. "Score 2573 to you. And tell me, Apollo, who was born after Nico?"

**~o~**

_The dream got worse for her. The dark monster was hunting her. She had no weapons to kill it. She had to do the best to protect herself. She summoned more lightning to shield against the dark._

**~o~**

Apollo closed his eyes and sighed. "Thalia."

* * *

**vanusomnium - vanus (empty) somnium (sleep) — I just made that up. I looked it up, and there really wasn't an official name there.**

**I had Cookie and Cream ice-cream for my birthday, so that's why I included that here.**

**I've been having an okay-sort-of week. At the moment, my best company is Doctor Who. Just asking for the fun of it, but who's your favorite Doctor? Mine would be Ten. Then Eleven. Then Nine. I'm still trying to see the stories of the others, so I'll get back to that at some point.  
**

**~o~**

**To SummerSpirit18: Twilight hadn't occurred to me when I wrote the vampires and werewolves part. I don't really like that series too much anymore.**

**To JGS39: I know, imagining Hades as a cheerful person seems so alien, but I don't think he was born so gloomy and sour in the first place. He has to be happy at some point.**

**To CrystalVeins: I literally embrace criticism; it helps me improve my writing skills. I'm still having trouble putting a proper spin on who Vena is, but I know what I've written her to be. I just need to make a few tweaks on her. I've always imagined her to be a little strange, not perfect. And I forgot that Thalia was in the Underworld (silly me) but I won't edit that right now. I'll think of something with that.**

**To Destiel4Ever: I hope this isn't deleted either. I've gotten no warnings on it so far, but who knows. Someone might find and report it. I truly hope that doesn't happen.**

**To RedRangerBelt: Those are a lot of questions, but I'm afraid that they will have to be answered as the story goes, not all at once. If I did, what would be the point of continuing. It just ruins everything. Oh, and I tried to edit a few grammar errors that you pointed out. I'm not sure I got all of them, but definitely some of them. My fingers type really fast, so I make a lot of errors without really noticing them. And I read fast too, so sometimes I accidentally skip over words when I already know them and miss out on a few details.**

**To sciencelover: I don't usually make people cry. Laughing is a different story. I'm mostly funny by accident. And for the future parts, they are far from near.**

**To goddess of life: I can't really say, but I've mentioned it before, just not directly.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Thanks, that book is still taking a long time, but I'll get there. The title is still on trial at the moment, but I'll decide soon. I hope. And there are a lot of immortal children. Some I have planned out, but not the official names, but most of them are a work in progress when it comes to background. I'm not sure if I want the other gods in the main story. They usually have no business at Vena's home. Only other entities usually visit. Apollo just has a temporary privilege. Even Hermes would have trouble getting there without permission from "Daddy dearest".**

**~o~**

**So that it for now. I basically a bit of a filler. It not making a whole lot of sense to me at the moment, but the next reading chapter will be the next update. That I am sure on. It's a bit of a long chapter, but it's not as long as the last one, at least.  
**

**And I'm seventeen now. In the Wizarding World, I'd be an adult now. I'd give out cake, but I think that would basically be a lie. Sorry. But I hope you all are doing okay. I know my year is about to get harder when the exams hit.  
**

**~ArtemisIsis13  
**


	26. We Find out the Truth, Sort of

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter or Percy Jackson at all.**

**So, here's the next chapter. I managed to get it up this week and not next! Thank gods.  
**

**Song of the chapter: Princess of China - Coldplay and Rihanna.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**We Find out the Truth, Sort of**

* * *

The thunder and lightning snapped almost everyone out of their sleep.

Harry sprang up in a sitting position, throwing the covers off as he rushed to get out of bed. He hurried over to the window to see the terrifying flashes and deafening cracks. He had never seen any weather as horrible as the one towering above the mansion. It was if the clouds were raging battle at each other, causing the loudest of thunder cracks as they collided in fits of rage. The sight sent chills down Harry's spine. He immediately went to pull the curtains shut when he thought he glimpsed the image of two people outside. When he looked again, he saw nothing, so he shook his head and pulled the curtains to shield his sight from the storm. However, it did nothing for his hearing, as the noise was as loud as ever.

**~o~**

Ron covered his ears, trying to block out the noise. Nothing seemed to work. He had searched around his room to see if there might be any earplugs, but his efforts were wasted. He was certain that a silencing spell wouldn't help—what could silence a storm?—and he didn't know any that would help his hearing. He crawled back into his bed and pulled the covers over his head, hoping that it would dim the noise enough for him to get a few more hours of sleep, but it didn't work.

Everyone else had the same problem. Neville had done his best to prevent himself from going deaf; he had collected some toilet paper from his bathroom and stuffed a few handmade earplugs in his ears. It helped in the very slightest, but the noise was still enough to keep him up. Many of the others tried his method. It helped a bit. George's dose of sleeping potion had been more than he anticipated, because he wasn't disturbed by the storm at all. He slept right through it.

Nico's hands were clamped over his ears. He was seriously confused. He was somewhere between slumber and consciousness; for one, nothing he thought made any sense, yet he was aware of the storm. Something was pulling him into sleep, but it wasn't a pleasant sensation. Something, like an inner spirit, was fighting to escape—to be free. But something was hurting it. Something was hurting Nico. A spasm ran through his body as a scar appeared behind his foot. It was shaped like a lightning bolt, not like the one on Harry's forehead, but the ones that Zeus could create, like tree roots.

And then, as another flash of lightning lit up the sky outside, the scar faded away.

**~o~**

Despite all the heavy racket, Thalia remained asleep in her room, unknowing that she was the cause of the disturbance to Star. She tossed and turned in her bed, grimacing at every horrible moment she ventured into inside her dream. Thalia was too horrified to realize she was dreaming. Still, the thought of stopping, even for a short time inside a dream, wasn't an option in her head at the moment.

_She continued her race, taking several twists and turns through the dark hallways. She flashed lightning at anything that seemed threatening to her. Yet, whatever she attacked was completely harmless, like a vase, or a statue. Still, she was sure something was after her. She continued to run. A shrieking sound echoed in her wake, like a wounded animal. It sounded similar, like the wolves that belonged to the Hunt. She hoped it wasn't a wolf after her. She could handle them, but she preferred to have a weapon to do so._

_In her dream, she had none._

_Suddenly, dark shadows loomed around her, striking out randomly from the black gloom. The strikes were sharp, cutting her skin and bleeding her dry. She screamed as a black fire traced over her skin..._

_A cold, white hand lashed out and gripped her wrist in an iron grip. She yelped in pain and tried to escape it. Blood rushed to her ears as the white hand squeezed the feeling out of her hand, cutting the circulation of her blood._

_"Let go of me!" she screeched at the person. She sent an electric shock up the arm, but it didn't release her. She whirled around to give the person a punch in the face but stopped when she saw who it was._

_Nico._

_But it wasn't him, to be exact. The sight for her made Thalia scream. Standing before her was a young boy, maybe twelve. His black hair was flecked with gray. His skin was whiter than bone. Blood dripped from his ears, nose, and mouth. His eyes were blacker than night—there was no iris, pupil and white; his entire eye was black. His skin was sunken in like a corpse, and his stare was emotionless and frightening._

_"H-Help me," he rasped, mouth spewing from his mouth as he spoke. "Please." His teeth were pointed and dripping with blood. Thalia realized that it wasn't HIS blood. After all, Nico didn't have fangs._

_'I'm going to kill Conner and Travis for letting me watch Van Helsing,' Thalia thought, struggling to get away from Nico—or whatever it was that resembled him._

_"Let me go!" With all the strength she could muster, she threw a bolt of lightning from her hand at his face and blasted him off her. Terrified, she turned and ran down the hallway. The dark, merciless flames lashed out at her, slowing her down and weakening her. Thalia made it back to the common room; it was empty. She turned to look at the doorway. No one was there. Sighing with relief, she turned back around before screaming._

_Nico's black eyes pierced hers. "Help m-me," he croaked. Then he bared his teeth and lashed out._

**~o~**

_Knock, Knock, Knock!_

"Thalia, wake up! We have to finish that book!"

Thalia sat up with a start. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her bearings. It was a dream; just a dream. She was safe and sound in her room. Nico wasn't a corpse-vampire trying to kill her. And someone was knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" she called out, her voice cracking from sleep.

The knocking stopped. "It's Percy, who else?"

Thalia exhaled with relief. "Okay, I—I'll be right out!" She heard Percy say that breakfast would be served in the common room as she scrambled out of her bed. Ten minutes later she was down there with everyone else.

"—my head is still reeling," Travis groaned as he helped himself to waffles. "That was the worse sleep ever."

"Morning," Thalia said, dishing out a few waffles on a plate. "Bad night, Travis?"

He nodded. "Yep. I couldn't sleep."

Neville sighed. "I wasn't the only one?" he asked. "I admit, last night was not the best."

There were a few others who agreed with him. Thalia poured herself some orange juice, picked up her plate, and then went to her usual seat. She froze when she realized that Nico was already there, eating breakfast like a hungry wolf. He didn't look that different than he did the other day, other than the fact that he was wearing black sweatpants and a white t-shirt; he wore no shoes on his feet, only white socks. His black hair was uncombed so that it stuck out at all angles. His skin was still pale with a small flush of pink on his hollow cheeks, and his eyes were mixed between cheerful and maniacal.

"Morning, Thalia," he greeted, stuffing half a waffle in his mouth. Thalia tried not to imagine blood dripping from his mouth as she took her seat next to him. She had to remind herself that it was just a bad dream, but she couldn't help be feel a little unnerved by him.

"Hey, Nico," she said, trying to sound casual. "Feeling any better today?"

Nico shrugged as he chewed his waffle. "It could have been better," he said after he swallowed. "That thunderstorm kept me up for a good portion of the night. At least I fell asleep before it ended. I wouldn't have been able to come downstairs otherwise."

Thalia paused in the acting of stuffing a piece of her breakfast into her mouth. "Thunderstorm?" she asked, frowning at him. "Last night?"

Hermione frowned as she looked up. "Didn't you hear it?" she asked, her fork hovering over her eggs. "It kept us all up for the past few hours."

Thalia was dumbfounded. "I didn't hear a thunderstorm; I was sleeping," she said.

Percy shrugged as he selected another waffle from the dining cart. "Huh, that's weird," he said. "But it explains why it took me five minutes to wake you up. And I thought _I_ was heavy sleeper."

"Did _you_ sleep through the thunderstorm?" Thalia asked, suspecting the answer was no. Like she predicted, he shook his head.

"Nah, it kept me up, too," he said. "Maybe you were unaffected because you're the daughter of Zeus."

Thalia had a feeling that that wasn't the answer. And she didn't know how to explain why she was still extremely exhausted.

* * *

Vena poured over the ingredients to the potion. Many of them still made her skin crawl, even after all this time. It was such a dark potion, meant for people of the Underworld alone. She'd have to be careful and precise when giving Nico a small dosage from the stocks she was about to cook up. There were so many risks involved, but it had to be done. She couldn't afford Nico having another serious outburst. He'd kill everyone, including himself. It was only because of her father that they weren't dead now.

Vena had noted that Nico, like the other demigods, had different futures, depending on which route he took in his path. Vena tended to focus on the demigods' alternate futures more than the humans'. The mortals didn't always need Vena, not when Janus was able to do the job well without her. Vena only interfered in the lives that had alternatives that would have a major affect on society, and she rarely took to the minors unless she was bored. That didn't stop her from hearing all the mortals' thoughts though.

Vena closed the booklet and stuffed in back in her pocket as she ran down the hallway; teleporting gave her a headache if she used it too often. In the background of her head, she could hear all the murmurings of every living being on the planet Earth. She was used to them pouring through her head, listening to random thoughts and feeling random emotions. It had taken centuries for her to just act normal anymore, to just be Vena, not every person who existed; it had made it hard for her to understand herself, so "happy" was her main target. In the beginning, it had been far worse, especially when she had been on the brink of insanity. If it hadn't been for Apollo, she would have been twice as crazy as she was now.

The daughter of Chaos shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. It never did well for her to dwell on them. She continued running until she came outside a familiar hallway. She ran directly to one of the rooms and locked the door behind her on entry. It was dark in there, and the only source of light came from a glimmering pool up ahead. It reminded Vena of the Trevi Fountain, but the statues depicted the image of Chaos and her siblings in their human forms. Vena didn't use any of her time to inspect the statues. Instead, she went right up to the pool and sat by its edge.

The pool was a swirling mass of scenes from both the past and the future. From the past, she saw a dance on Olympus. It was so long ago, when the gods could have been considered young, long before the Trojan War or even Heracles's birth. _The musics played loud in a rhythmic, heart-pacing melody that had the gods, satyrs, and nymphs jumping and laughing. Dionysus, very new to godhood and happy, continuously rolled out the wine for the satyrs to serve. Hermes was dancing with Iris, the both of them laughing so hard, they were crying. A beaming Zeus stood on the steps with a gleeful Poseidon and an amused Hestia, the former clapping his hands to the beat the music._

_Dancing together close to Hermes and Iris were the Archer Twins, Artemis and Apollo._ Vena smiled sadly. This was a time when those two got along beautifully. They were both so sweet and lively back then, laughing and smiling all the time because they were just happy. She remembered the sight more clearly than the replaying images before her: _Artemis, only appearing to be fifteen, wearing a dark blue, knee-length chiton, with her auburn hair in wild curls cascading all over her head. Her silver eyes brimmed with mirth as Apollo twirled her around._ Artemis had been an incredible dancer, far better than Vena was at all. Since she and Apollo were toddlers, they loved to dance, just to amuse their mother, Leto. At least, that was how it was in the very beginning. Artemis never danced often anymore. And she never danced with Apollo. Ever.

Vena sighed as her sight turned to Apollo. She smiled at the memory of him, not when he was trying to be charming and arrogant, but when he had been more down-to-earth and humorous. _His blond hair was curly, falling over his forehead whenever he spun around. His grin was so boyish and cute, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief and delight. His pale gold tunic almost blended into his skin as spun around in extremely dizzying spirals._ How he had achieved that without falling down, Vena still pondered to that day.

Vena frowned and looked away towards the other gods. _Hades and Demeter were standing with Athena, surveying the dance before them. Demeter and Athena were talking while Hades sipped from his goblet of wine. His curly dark hair fell into his eyes, those dark eyes; they were not maniacal as they were now._ All of them— all the gods—they had all changed.

Vena wiped her hand over the image, changing it to something else. The dance had been nice when it lasted, but she was here to look for something about Nico— even the others, if possible. Not taking a trip down memory lane.

There were several alternatives swimming around in the pool, but Vena was only searching for one. Her eyes roamed across the images, searching for the one future she knew Nico might lapse into, the one that led to the White Age. It wasn't a permanent state for him, but it would be a faze that titled him as one of the dark deities.

She found it, hiding in the corner, and she pulled it to the surface. Her only wonder was if she should really watch it or not...

* * *

Apollo arrived in the Common Room just as the readers finished up their breakfasts. His head was reeling from the thunderstorm that Thalia had created. Vena had sent him out of Star back to Olympus until it had stopped. He was far used to his father causing storms to give terrible headaches, but Vena had been stubborn, so to please her, he left, though he figured she had different reasons for it. He had used his time to check up on the other gods, fulfill his other godly duties, and even go on two more dates he'd almost forgotten about. He felt relatively normal again when he entered the Common Room.

"Gooooooood morning, everyone!" he said cheerfully as looked around at all of them. "How's everything?"

From the expressions he saw, he guessed that the answer wasn't good. Ginny confirmed it. "Last night there was a hurricane or something," she said, putting down her empty glass that had once contained water. "It kept us up for a good portion of the night."

"Not me," George said, "I managed to sleep through it."

"Lucky you," Ron grumbled.

Apollo pursed his lips. "Yeah, I know about that," he said. "I tried to stop it and almost got zapped. I figured it was best to just wait it out."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her. "But you're a god," she protested. "It wouldn't have been much of a problem to stop a storm."

"I beg to differ," Apollo countered. "Storms are not in my domain. That's my father's job. And to be honest, it was too powerful. Star, this planet, happens to have lots of power radiating from its core. I didn't cause the storm, but it was too powerful to tackle."

"So we can blame the planet for the storm," Travis yawned. "Good to know."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "I checked into it," he said, walking over to the fireplace where he created his own comfy sofa to sit in, "and as it turned out, it's not the planet's fault. It was something else."

"Like what?" Nico asked.

No one else saw Apollo glance at Thalia, but she did. She frowned, but it didn't take her long to realize what he meant just by looking at her. Storms. Those were her father's domain. She slept through the entire thing and when she woke up, she was still bone tired. It wasn't her to created the racket, was it?

Apollo didn't rat her out. "Anyways, it's over. Thankfully." She looked at the dining cart which was now careful disposing of the dirt dishes and replacing everything with fresh wares and new food. He smiled. Trust Chaos to make such a thing and not tell the gods about it. He'd have to ask Hephaestus if he could make one for him.

"You've all eaten, I take it?" he asked. They nodded. "Good." He looked at Nico. "Are you feeling any better?"

Nico shrugged. "Almost. I could've used so more sleep, but my joints are much better."

Apollo smiled. "Brilliant.

* * *

Vena looked away from the pool, having just witnessed what Nico would be like in the future towards the White Age. He was handsome: ivory pale skin, dark onyx eyes, long wavy/spiky hair, pierced ears, tattooed arms, wearing black clothing—he was glorious and terrifying all at once. The furious look in his eyes passed for downright murderous... The power inside him had nearly frozen Vena's blood. He had a temper, all right. One that unnerved many of the gods. At least Percy and Thalia could calm him down, along with his father and his sisters.

Vena closed her eyes and looked through Apollo's eyes. Little Nico sat between Thalia and Grover, just as he had the entire reading period, minus his time on the floor. Physically the age of twelve nearing thirteen, his black hair—once brown—spiked up in the back. His black eyes—once brown and still was when he was happy —were wide and calm. He still resembled a fragile corpse that could move around; he wasn't as tall and strong as his future persona. He was shorter than the others, only standing taller than Ginny at 5'4. He was more innocent and carefree compared to what she had seen in the pool.

She hoped it would last a long time.

* * *

"So, what chapter are we on now?" Neville asked as Apollo flipped through the pages of the book until he found the right chapter.

"We're at the nineteenth chapter," Apollo said, finding the page he was looking for. "Who's next in line?"

Grover raised his hand. "That would be me," he said, taking the book from Apollo. He looked at the chapter title. "I suppose that's true." he sighed.

"What is?" Conner asked curiously.

Grover cleared his throat. "**Chapter Nineteen: We Find Out the Truth, Sort of**."

Ginny thought about the title. "Is that supposed to be reassuring?" she asked the Greeks.

"I think so," Rachel replied, looking at Percy for an answer.

"Read and you'll find out," was all he had to say.

Grover nodded and glanced at Nico. "At least we finally cleared your father's name for this," he said. Nico smiled.

**Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.**

"I'm seeing the one for the Quidditch World Cup," Ron said, grinning.

"The what?" Travis asked.

"Wizard's sport," Luna said.

"The stadium was huge," Ginny said, nodding. "It held thousands of wizards and witches from all over the world."

"Must be big," Grover muttered, looking down at the book and reading:

**Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.**

Ron's eyebrows shot up. "That's half the world in dullness," he stated, grimacing.

Percy shrugged. "I guess I was exaggerating a bit," he admitted. "But it was huge in there!"

"The Underworld's _that_ big?" Neville asked.

"That's just a _part_ of the Underworld," Nico spoke up. "Out of twelve, it could be..." He thought about it. "Maybe five..."

"Five?" Conner asked, not getting it.

"Yeah," Nico said, not elaborating, looking up at the ceiling with an expression that resembled Luna's dreaminess. "Say the Underworld was divided into twelve parts. It's enormous. The perimeter might take weeks to measure. The palace would take one and a half... Elysium would be about... three or two and a half— yeah, that... Punishment is... um... well, you could say three, I suppose... and then there's Asphodel, which would be five."

Ron frowned. "And you could say 'half the world in dullness' is Asphodel?" he asked skeptically.

Nico nodded, returning to earth. "Yeah, that would be it," he said.

Annabeth nodded. "That would be a way to put it," she admitted. "I mean, if you put the Underworld as a pie chart and divide up the sections to represent the different locations, and taking into account how many souls enter each area, calculating by the addition—"

"Annabeth, no," Conner pleaded. "Don't bring math into this! We got Nico's point!"

Annabeth sighed. "Nothing's wrong with math!" she said.

Conner rolled his eyes. "To you, there's nothing wrong with it!" he said. "But if you start going into something that we don't need to go into now—"

"We write it on the notepad," Ginny interrupted, turning all the attention to her. "If it's not too relevant, then we write it down for later. Wasn't that the plan?"

Apollo smiled. "Of course it was," he said, reminding everyone that he was still in the room. "Hermione, you still have that notepad?"

She nodded, pulling it out from the side of her seat. She jotted down a quick note and smiled. "There, now can continue with the book."

Conner looked relieved, and so did Travis and Percy. They didn't really want to listen to a whole explanation to something they going to remember later. Grover sensed that in all of them and hid a smirk as he started reading again.

**If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees—Grover told me they were poplars—grew in clumps here and there.**

**The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. I tried not to imagine they'd fall on us at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.**

"Nah, it would go right through them," Nico said.

"And if it fell on us?" Percy asked.

"You would join the dead."

"Comforting, that is."

"...Sorry."

**Annabeth, Grover, and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. I couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.**

**The dead aren't scary. They're just sad.**

"That's because they don't usually remember their former lives," Nico explained. "In Asphodel, memories just slip away. In Punishment and Elysium, you can remember your lives. In Elysium, you get to enjoy it, and in Punishment, it's used to torture you."

George frowned. "How can you say that so easily?" he asked. "It's like a random fact for you. Those used to be living people. They had lives."

Nico looked uncomfortable. "I guess I got used to it, I suppose," he said awkwardly. "Once you're dead, it just what you become. Living becomes the memory, not the fact."

George folded his arms. "So what would happen if you died then?"

Nico thought about it. "I'd become a member of the Underworld too, I suppose," he said. "I'd be a servant to my father, but I'd remember. Child of Hades tend to remember their lives, even in death. That goes for all three areas of the Underworld."

"Including Asphodel?" Thalia asked.

"Especially there," Nico said. "That'd be a boring death; everyone around you, just there, and you spend eternity just remembering life. I'd hate to be there..."

"So you don't get special treatment?" Travis asked. Rachel groaned at this question.

Nico almost smiled. "Nope, not one bit," he said. "In death, despite where we end up, we're equal in servitude. Even me and my siblings, unless we retain a bit of our powers afterwards. Then we have a small privilege."

That made a few people uncomfortable. Everyone had someone they cared about die, and the best they could hope for was that they find peace in death. To learn that, even then, they were ordinary subjects to the Underworld, whether they worked as servants or not, bothered them just a little bit.

When no one spoke, Grover took that as a sign to continue reading, though he was uncomfortable in the tense atmosphere.

**We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read**

**JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION**

**Welcome, Newly Deceased!**

Thalia's eyebrow shot up. "It says that?" she asked in surprise. "I never saw that! It seems a little pathetic..."

Rachel frowned. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"When I was in the Underworld, I never saw that," Thalia told her.

"I thought when you died, you didn't go to the Underworld," Perce said, frowning.

Thalia sighed. "Not _then_!" she said exasperatedly. "Last Christmas! I was in the Underworld with Nico and Percy, and I didn't see that."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What were you doing in the Underworld?" she asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

Thalia exchanged nervous glances with Nico and Percy. "A quest," she said. "It's a long story."

"One we need not get into," Nico added seriously, remembering that they weren't supposed to talk about it. Then he thought back to that day. "To be honest, Thalia, you ever only saw a part of the palace, the lower part of Asphodel, a part of the Fields of Punishment, and then the path to the Lethe. I don't recall ever taking you to see the entrance of the Underworld..."

Thalia nodded. "You didn't," she said. "I didn't even see Cerberus, but I heard him. That's why I was surprised to hear what the entrance was like in the last chapter. Considering what I'd seen, I expected it to be more medieval for some reason..."

Nico sorted. "Maybe a century or two ago," he joked.

Percy smirked. "I'd nearly forgotten about that quest," he admitted. Then his expression turned serious. "About that, how's he doing with—_it_?"

Most of the demigods and all the wizards were perplexed at his question.

Nico smiled at him. "Don't worry, he's keeping to his promise," Nico assured him.

"What promise?" Apollo asked. Then he frowned. "Never mind. I'll find out later." He heard Vena giggling in his head and he rolled his eyes.

Nico mistook the gesture. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

Apollo smiled sheepishly. "Oh, not you." He made no more elaboration. He simple tapped at his temple and smiled.

"Oookay, then," Grover said awkwardly. "Can I start reading again?"

"Sure," Apollo said.

**Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.**

**To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music.**

"Eugh, it sounds horrible," Conner noted.

"Well, I don't think it's supposed to be a picnic," Neville noted.

**I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.**

The children of the Big Three groaned at the mention of Sisyphus.

"He was annoying!" Thalia complained. She rubbed her shoulder like it still hurt when she carried the boulder for the rotten guy.

"You know him?" Luna asked.

"The quest," Percy grumbled. "It took me three days to wash all that soot out of my ears from being in Punishment!"

Nico snorted humorously. "You can image what it's like for me on a daily basis," he grumbled.

No one really understood what they were talking about, and they weren't sure if they wanted to know.

**And I saw worse tortures, too—things I don't want to describe.**

**The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls—a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.**

**Elysium.**

"I'm going there when I die," Ron stated immediately. "If they throw me in Asphodel, I'm busting my way out!"

Hermione smiled and took his hand into hers. "Considering what you've done in the past, they'd be a fool not to put you there," she said. Ron blushed, turning his ears the color of beets.

George smiled at the thought of Fred being in Elysium. From the sound of the place, he'd definitely enjoy it there. He hoped that's where his brother went.

**In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.**

Apollo grinned. Percy would definitely end up somewhere beautiful in the future, but he was sure that the Isle of the Blest might not be enough.

"I totally agree with you there," Conner said to Percy, grinning.

**"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said, like she was reading my thoughts. "That's the place for heroes."**

**But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.**

"Too true," Apollo noted sadly. "'_The soul of man was ever eternal, / yet his path walked in the lands of evil. / The price is paid on the burial day, / standing in the shadows forevermore—in death_.'"

He heard Vena in his head say, '_A hero's heart but a myth, he swarmed himself in chains of shame. He prayeth upon the hands of his lord, but no mercy was spent on his words. Here, he stands in the meadows of old / and he loses his sight, his heart, his soul_.'

Apollo sighed. "Stop finishing my poems," he grumbled, not realizing he'd spoken aloud.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked, understandably confused. "What are you talking about? We didn't say anything."

Apollo shook his his head as Vena burst into laughter, blushing. "Never mind," he said to Annabeth. He tapped his forehead. "It's just this."

Rachel giggled. "She's listening?" she asked. Apollo nodded.

"What?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Immortals can communicate telepathically," Apollo informed him. "I'm talking to someone right now. And it's not you."

A few of the readers looked startled by that information, but the demigods had understood this easily. They had seen their parents communicate like that before.

"So who are you talking to?" Annabeth asked.

Apollo looked at her and then at Grover. "Read. Now."

Annabeth looked disgruntled. "Who were you talking to?" she repeated. Apollo didn't answer her. Grover decided it was best to start reading again before an argument broke out.

**We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.**

**After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.**

"I'd hate to see anything like that wait for me," Conner mumbled to himself.

**"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.**

**"We'll be okay." I tried to sound confident.**

**"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."**

Grover blushed as he read that. A few people snickered.

"No such luck, I take it?" Rachel teased.

"Not even close," Grover replied sheepishly.

**"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.**

**Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass.**

**"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."**

**"But I didn't—"**

**He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.**

"What's going on?" Neville asked. "Is something wrong with the shoes?"

"Yes," Grover replied, continuing before anyone could ask him what it was.

**"_Maia!_" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! _Help!_"**

Conner couldn't help but snort as he adjusted the sleeve of his shirt. "Nine-one-one. Really?"

"I was panicking!" Grover protested, blushing as red as a rose.

**I got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.**

"It sort of resembled how you looked on Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth recalled. "The same thing happened."

"Not reassuring," Grover grumbled. "I nearly bumped into the van with that one."

**We ran after him.**

**Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"**

**It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feetfirst at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces. We kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.**

**I was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.**

"Are the shoes scared or something?" Conner asked. Everyone looked at him. "What? It could happen."

Travis rolled his eyes at his brother's question.

**The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. Annabeth and I had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.**

Nico's eyes widened. "Please, not there," he pleaded. Even Apollo had turned pale.

"Sorry, Nico," Percy said as Grover gulped. "We got out."

No one decided to ask him where there was. They were pretty sure that it would be revealed in the next few paragraphs.

**"Grover!" I yelled, my voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"**

**"What?" he yelled back.**

**He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.**

**The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about—blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.**

A few people looked uncomfortable.

"The chapter's stopped again," Grover informed Apollo.

"Oh," Apollo said, summoning the remote and turning on the television. "Right then. I remember the chapter. Let's see." He hit another button and then said, "Book One, Chapter Nineteen, Scene One."

A title appeared on the screen, captioned: **We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of - Scene One - Tartarus**.

"Tartarus?" Thalia exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding me!"

The Greeks had paled, but the Brits didn't understand what was going on with them. The scene didn't wait for them; it started to roll:

o

_"Ahhhhhhh!" Grover yelped as the shoes dragged him towards the tunnel._ [The readers winced at the sight and glanced over at Grover with worried expressions.] _Annabeth and Percy chased after him, but when Percy saw where Grover was being dragged off to, he stopped and gaped at the tunnel. Annabeth grabbed his arm, not letting him stay in his spot._

"Come on, Percy!" she yelled, tugging him along.

_Percy stumbled as he said, "But that's—"_

_Annabeth pulled at Percy's arm again. "I know! The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." That got Percy to move. He followed Annabeth into the tunnel after a screaming Grover._

_The scene showed shots of Grover trying to grab onto anything—roots, rocks, dirt—but his efforts were fruitless as he was always ripped away from them. He kicked his flying legs around and one banged against the wall of the tunnel. A close-up showed the shoe loosening from Grover's hoof. As Grover tried to grasp anything again, he slammed into a large rock, knocking on of the shoes right off his hoof, slowing him down so that Percy and Annabeth were able to catch up to him quicker._

_Grover grabbed onto the same rock he bumped into and hung on, using it like an anchor._

o

"Where are you guys?" Ginny asked, not seeing Annabeth and Percy too close to Grover.

"We're still running," Percy said, pointing. "Look, there we are."

o

_Percy and Annabeth reached Grover just as the other shoes yanked itself off of Grover's hoof. It flew up at them and kicked their heads before flying after the other shoes. The scene showed the shoes flying into a dark, endless chasm, swallowed into darkness._

o

Thalia shivered and looked away from the sight. That would go on forever. The thought made her sick.

"Oh my gods," Travis yelped, staring at the chasm in horror. "Grover, you could have fallen in there."

Grover grimaced, watching his younger self pant in terror. "I think that was the idea, Travis," he said darkly. "Those were not good shoes."

Everyone's expressions were filled with worry and horror. Apollo's face was void of any emotion as he stared at that pit. Tartarus sent fear into the gods themselves.

o

_Annabeth and Grover collapsed next to Grover, panting. Percy struggled with his bag, pushing it higher unto his shoulder, like it was giving him trouble to carry. He sighed when Annabeth and Grover looked at him. Small shots showed Grover's injuries: cuts and bruises, bleeding hands and tiny rips in his clothes. His eyes were slit-pupiled in his terror._

o

The wizards flinched at the sight. It may have been Grover's eyes, but the thought of red, slit-pupil eyes came up in their thoughts. It was something they didn't want to remember.

o

_"I don't know how..." Grover panted, obviously trying to catch his breath. "I didn't..."_

_Percy's eyebrows wedge together as Grover spoke. "Wait," he said suddenly. "Listen."_

_The three of them when silent. From the depths of the chasm, a voice whispered up to the surface. Annabeth's lower lip trembled. "Percy," she started, this place—"_

_"Shh," Percy hushed her as he stood up. The voice was growing louder._ [The readers got goosebumps from just hearing it.] _The voice, a harsh, evil voice, muttered from within the pit._

_Grover said up, his eyes wide. "Wh-what's that noise?" he asked, his voice slightly higher than before._

o

"Good question," Ron said in a controlled voice. The muttered sent chills down his spill. His crawled with goosebumps, and he wasn't the only one.

Everyone else had the same reaction, including those who had been there.

o

_Annabeth shook slightly. "Tartarus." Her skin looked paler. "The entrance to Tartarus."_

_Just as Percy uncapped his pen, the voice faltered briefly before resuming its chant. The muttering was loud enough to to be understood by the Greeks._

o

A caption appeared: **the chant is spoken in Ancient Greek**.

George fidgeted. "It sounds disturbing," he noted grimly. "Greek is disturbing.

"I'd be offended if I didn't agree with you," Apollo said, looking away from the screen. His grandfather's voice made him feel like a little child quivering under his bed.

o

_"Magic," Percy said as he listened to the chanting._

o

"Sounds as bad as the dark magic we know," Hermione muttered to her friends. They nodded in agreement.

o

_Annabeth got to her feet. "We have to get out of here."_

o

"No need to say that twice," Grover said gratefully, causing Annabeth to chuckle.

The others weren't exactly in the laughing mood.

o

_They watched as Percy and Annabeth helped Grover back on his hooves and they immediately started their way out of the tunnel. Percy fidgeted with his bag again, like it was making him feel uncomfortable._ [Harry noted that and frowned.] _The further they got, the angrier and louder the voice from the pit became._ [Ginny openly shivered by the chilly sound and George wrapped an arm around her.] _The trio began to run._

o

Thalia scoffed. "The minute you were on your feet you should have run out of there," she commented. "That's what I would've done."

Annabeth huffed. "Well, I'm sorry if we were tired!"

Thalia frowned. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

o

_In a split second, a blast of wind whipped at their hair, revealing that something was trying to suck them back into the pit, like a vacuum._

o

"Get out of there!" Hermione yelped. Seeing it made everything much more real and horrifying.

"We were trying!" Percy said. "It was a bit difficult with something trying to pull us back."

From the scene shown, that was obvious.

o

_They stumbled on the gravel as they tried to run, but luckily they were already close to the entrance of the pit. They made it to the pit and ran out into the Fields of Asphodel. At the moment of their escape, a cry of rage sounded from the pit, obviously upset that they had gotten away._

_The trio didn't stop running until they got to a black poplar grove. Grover leaned forward, cupping his hands on his knees. "What was that?" he panted. "One of Hades's pets?"_

o

Nico rolled his eyes. "He doesn't keep his pets in there!" he said, like that information was obvious.

Grover didn't bother to argue.

o

_Percy and Annabeth looked at each other but didn't answer him. Percy capped his sword and put it back in his pocket. He got control of his breathing as he said, "Let's keep going." He looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"_

_The satyr was trembling as much as Percy and Annabeth. Grover gulped. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."_

o

"Liar," Conner muttered, but not in an accusing tone. He was just stating the obvious with sympathy.

o

_Percy glanced at the tunnel but soon turned away and started on towards the palace of Hades. From a sky view, the scene showed the furies, flying above their heads._ [The sight of them made everyone shiver, except for Apollo. He long knew what they looked like.] _The scene then zoomed down towards the black palace. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open._

_As they passed, they examined the engravings on the gates. They were scenes of death: an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls._

o

"Prophecies," Apollo muttered. "Prophecies that came true. Prophecies I made. They were engraved there as reminders for when they would happen."

"That's horrible," Luna said softly.

"I know." The god of prophecy sighed. "But there's no changing Fate."

o

_Through the gates, the trio came across a garden filled with multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and luminous plants grew without sunlight. Jutting out of the ground were piles and piles of raw jewels of so many sizes and shapes, so many that everyone gaped, except for Apollo. There were statues around the garden, petrified in various poses of terror, made up of children, satyrs, and centaurs; all of them were smiling grotesquely._

o

"Medusa's work," Rachel said in disgust. "Nico, I'm liking your father less."

Nico chuckled dryly. "Okay," he said. "Just know that it's Persephone who orders those. Not Dad."

"Don't you have on in your room?" Luna asked, recalling what Nico had said in the previous chapter.

"Yeah," Nico said gloomily. "It was a statue Persephone didn't want."

Thalia gagged. "Geez," she muttered. "Even from the dead, you get leftovers."

Nico glared at her. "Ha-ha."

o

_"The garden of Persephone. Keep walking," Annabeth said, looking at the orchard of pomegranate trees in the garden's center, their orange blooms neon bright in the darkness._

_Percy pulled Grover away from picking a big juicy pomegranate from the tree and helped him along._

o

A caption came up: **Consuming food from the Underworld will keep you there forever. Persephone consumed from the fruit, initiating her frequent stays in the Underworld. She must always return to the Underworld.**

"If it keeps her there, then why is she allowed to leave?" Luna asked curiously.

"It's from a deal that was made between Hades, Persephone, Zeus and Demeter," Apollo explained, pausing the scene for a brief moment. "Persephone spends half the year with her mother Demeter, and the other half with Hades."

Ginny frowned. "Doesn't Persephone get a say in it?" she asked.

Apollo shrugged. "Persephone enjoys her time out of the Underworld," he admitted, "but she no longer enjoys spending all of it with her mother. She wishes to be without her many times. She enjoys going back to the Underworld to get away from Demeter. Hades doesn't nag her. He lets her do whatever she wants, unless its against the laws."

"That's true," Nico admitted. "She doesn't show it, but I think she likes the Underworld very much."

Apollo let the scene run again.

o

_The trio walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. The scene showed a shot of the none-existent ceiling, portraying the cavern roof up above._

o

"You have to admit, that does look kind of nice," Neville admitted. "It could use some color."

Nico's eyes widened and he burst into laughter, injecting some color into his skeletal face. "Persephone says the same thing," he chortled. "It makes Dad grumble!"

Percy, Thalia, and Grover smiled. Nico's laugh resembled his old one; the laugh of his ten-year-old self.

o

_The trio started to slow down with they saw the guards to the doorway. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. Their hollow eye sockets followed the trio as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end._

o

"That's creepy," Ginny noted. The Stolls and Ginny's siblings nodded in agreement. Even Harry had to admit that it was off.

"I know," Thalia agree. "I found it best not to look at them at all."

Nico shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"Of course you are," Percy and Grover grumbled.

o

_Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors; rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests._

_Grover grimaced. "You know, I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen," he muttered. Percy fidgeted with his bag again._

o

Harry's eyes narrowed at the sight of him readjusting his bag so much. He had seen Hermione do that several times when her bag was too heavy, but as far as he knew, whatever Percy had in his bag was light.

"There aren't any door-to-door salesmen," Nico corrected Grover. "Just Hermes."

"Poor dad," Conner and Travis said sympathetically.

o

_Percy glanced at his bag. The scene zoomed in on it for a while_, alerting the readers that Percy was suspicious about it.

o

"What was wrong with it?" Harry asked, not taking his eyes off of it.

Percy sighed. "It felt heavier," he said. "Right from the tunnel, I started to notice it, but I didn't make any deal of it. Looking back on it, I think I should have."

That didn't sound good.

o

_"Well, guys," Percy said, looking away from the bag to the door. "I suppose we should ... knock?" A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside immediately for them to pass._

o

"I wouldn't go in there," Conner said, fidgeting.

"We didn't have a choice," Annabeth said.

o

_Her younger self took a deep breath. "I guess that means entrez-vous,"she said._

_The three of them entered the room together._

o

A caption appeared: **Percy noted that Hades was the first god he met who struck as being godlike**.

"Really?" Thalia asked. "I thought he was creepy."

Nico sighed. "At least he's not over-dramatic," he snapped. She glared at him.

Apollo stifled a laugh. In his head, he could hear Vena. She wasn't holding back her on giggling. The sound was so infectious that he had to push her out so he wouldn't start laughing hysterically in front of the readers.

o

_The scene shot from the ground up so that they could get a good impact on Hades: ten feet tall, sitting on a throne fused of human bones. He was dressed in black silk robes. His hair was shoulder-length, curling near the back under his crown of braided gold. His skin was ivory and smooth, just like Nico's. He was handsome in a dark, terrifying manner. His nose was sharp and his high cheekbones were slightly pronounced with mildly hollow cheeks. He had muscle, but not as much as Ares. His godly seemed to radiate with power than physical strength. The way he lounged on his throne resembled that of a lithe, graceful, dangerous panther, studying his prey and pondering when the strike. His onyx eyes radiated power and caused everyone to shiver at the very sight of them._

o

Hermione blinked. "You look a lot like him, Nico," she said after a while. "You have the same eyes and nose."

"And mouth and cheekbones," Ginny added. "Suddenly, you're not so bad, Nico. You look a whole less scarier now."

The corners of Nico's mouth turned up. "Thanks," he said, amused.

o

_Hades's eyes trailed on the trio as they approached his throne. They narrowed when they fell on Percy._

o

The scene ended there. Apollo picked up the remote. "I guess it's reading time, Grover," he said. "Let's hear what Percy has to say."

"Nothing good, perhaps," Travis said, jolting out of his momentary daze.

Percy pouted. "It's nice to know you have faith in me," he grumbled. Grover and Annabeth grinned at him.

"I'm sorry, but after the previous chapters, I just assumed." Travis smiled.

Percy rolled his eyes as Grover started to read again:

**He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.**

"Huh," Harry said. "That's almost exactly what the rest of us were thinking."

"True," Nico said. "That's what I thought of him, too, when I first saw him, too."

**I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master.**

**Then I told myself to snap out of it.**

"Whoa, Percy, what's going on?" George asked. "Have you gone bloody bonkers?"

Percy blushed. "Um, no," he said.

Apollo chuckled. "It's Hades's aura," he said. "He can make anyone think like that. It happened a lot of training in the early days for all the gods to become immune to it."

"Really?" Nico asked. "I didn't know that."

Apollo nodded. "Yeah, it started before I was born and lasted only a few years afterwards. Hades hadn't done it on purpose, and he didn't know how to control it. He does now, though. A few of minor gods can still be affected."

"So he was playing with my head?" Percy asked, frowning.

"Pretty much," Annabeth confirmed. "I didn't feel that way. He must have been trying to affect you alone." That didn't make Percy any happier.

**Hades's aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolf Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.**

"Napoleon was one of Dad's sons," Nico said. "If you look at portraits of him when he was young, you'd think he looked a lot like Dad."

Annabeth nodded. "They have similar facial structure," she agreed. "And Hitler was also his son."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "Nico, you're related to Hitler and Napoleon?" she said, surprised.

Nico nodded. "Yeah. And they doesn't like me," he stated. "To be honest, I don't like them either."

**"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."**

**Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and just take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.**

"Nico, do you feel like that when you're near your father?" Hermione asked with concern.

Nico shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Dad doesn't try to affect me that way. To be honest, that's how the dead view ME."

Perce frowned. "We should talk about this later," he said. "You take this all too calmly."

Nico blushed. Rachel shook her head, amused by his sheepish expression.

**I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to say. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."**

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Um, Percy—" he began.

"Doesn't start," Percy said, sighing. "I get it, it wasn't a good start."

"I might've peed myself before I'd say that," Travis joked. Very few people smiled.

Nico shook his head. "_Dei cari_, Travis..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Travis was confused.

"Italian," Apollo informed him. "He said, 'Dear gods, Travis.'"

**Hades raised an eyebrow.**

"Hey, Nico did that same thing when Percy said that," Harry noted.

Nico sighed. "Well, you can't blame me."

Thalia shook her head and messed with his hair, just to annoy him. It worked. He scowled and pulled away.

**When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear.**

Half the room snorted with amusement. Apollo covered his mouth so they wouldn't see his grin.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" George said, raising up a hand to stop Grover. "Spirits are woven into his _underwear_?"

Nico stifled a laugh. "No! His other clothes, maybe, but not the _underwear_!"

George shook his head. "Why?"

Nico shrugged. "Spirits from the Fields of Punishment get it," he said. "It's usually for the minor criminals who get it, like mortal murders and so on. Anyone who does anything worse gets eternal punishment from the Furies and hellhounds."

"Do you have clothes like that?" Thalia asked, hoping the answer would be no.

Nico blushed. "Just one," he said. "I'm supposed to wear a suit for special occasions, like a birthday. It's itchy! They're always squirming!"

Percy gagged. "Nico, I think we should send you to a doctor or something! That's not normal!"

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped. "I didn't ask for it! It just something I got!"

Hermione sighed. "Grover, could you please continue before they go on with this?" she pleaded. "I don't want to hear about Nico wearing dead people."

Ron shook his head. "Mental, that sentence is," he muttered. Harry nodded in agreement.

**"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."**

"A pleasant fella, isn't he?" Conner muttered sarcastically to Travis.

**I swallowed. This was going about as well as I'd feared.**

**I glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons.**

"How does that work?" Ron asked.

"Simple," Apollo said. "When Persephone goes up to the surface world with Demeter, then that is the reign of spring and summer. Demeter is at her happiest then. Then autumn is the time when Persephone goes back to the Underworld. Demeter becomes sad and lonely, so the earth begins to express that in trees turning yellow and the skies turn gray. It's melancholy, to be honest. Then the winter comes. Pure mourning for Demeter. That's when snow falls. Every time she cries, it snows."

Ginny frowned. "All of a sudden, Christmas sounds sad," she noted. "We celebrate a woman's mourning?"

Apollo shrugged. "Actually, with mortals, they can find anything to celebrate with," he said. "Christmas is a holiday for you people. It's a holiday for Persephone, too. I still think Demeter goes overboard with it. Persephone's a grown woman, not a child. Demeter still treats her like a child."

"I can relate," Ginny said. "I love Mum, but she sees me as a baby."

George grinned. "I wonder, maybe she'll make that sort of deal then," he teased her. "Half the year with your husband, the other with her."

Ginny giggled and playfully punched him in the ribs. "Oh, shut it!" she said. "I'd have to have a boyfriend for that. I'm perfectly safe at the moment."

George still teased her, and neither of them noticed the disgruntled expression on Harry's face. Grover sensed how he felt and sighed, deciding to continue the chapter to avoid anything else in the conversation.

**Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.**

**"Lord Hades," I said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."**

**"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.**

Grover sighed and shook his head. "We need to upgrade our vocabulary," he whispered to Percy. "That just sounded pathetic."

Percy nodded in agreement; it didn't sound like the start of a serious discussion.

**"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."**

**Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"**

**I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.**

As did most of the readers.

**"Um ... Uncle," I said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"**

**The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles.**

"Yeah, Dad creates most of the earthquakes there." Nico sighed.

"I'm _so_ not living there, then," Conner stated.

**Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.**

"Ugh." Nico groaned. "You know he's pissed when he does that..."

**Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"**

**I wanted to say, _Well_, _these guys don't look like peace activists_. But I thought that might be a dangerous answer.**

Apollo chuckled. "Zeus said something similar once," he said. "He ended up on his sick bed for two days. That was about four centuries ago."

Thalia winced. "Ouch," she said. "What'd Hades do?"

Apollo grimaced. "You _really_ don't want to know."

A few people looked uncomfortable at that, including Grover. He looked for the next line in the book.

**"You are the Lord of the Dead," I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"**

**"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"**

**"Well..."**

**"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"**

**I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.**

**"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff.**

Apollo groaned. "I knew he had problems, but damn!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad I'm not him!"

Nico chuckled dryly. "I help him out nowadays," he said. "Really, Dad needs it."

**I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"**

**"Charon wants a pay raise," I blurted, just remembering the fact.**

**As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth.**

Nico snorted, a grim smile on his face.

Annabeth sighed. "Honestly, Percy, that wasn't the smartest thing to say."

He bit his lower lip. "It was the first thing that came to my head," he said, embarrassed.

**"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."**

'_War expands his kingdom_,' Vena muttered in Apollo's head. '_He doesn't have a fondness for it at all_. _He thinks it's big enough_.'

'_I can see why_,' he thought back. '_Just hearing his problems is giving me a headache. And gods don't GET headaches!_'

**"But you took Zeus's master bolt."**

**"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."**

**"His plan?"**

**"You were the thief on the winter solstice," he said. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, You took the master bolt and my helmet.**

Nico choked on his own spit before Grover could continue. "Wait, WHAT?" he spluttered out. "Someone stole Dad's helmet?"

Thalia, Rachel, Conner, Travis, and the wizards sat up in shock. The Greeks never knew that either, and it was understandable that the wizards didn't. Apollo was frozen in his seat. He hadn't been informed of that. It explained why Hades was so protective of it at the Solstice Meeting that year.

Percy winced. "He didn't tell you?"

"No!" Nico was horrified. "He has it now. I never thought he'd lost it!"

"I found it and gave it back," Percy reassured him. "Don't worry."

Nico folded his arms, still a little shell-shocked. "I can sort of see why they're suspecting Poseidon, though," he said. "His trident wasn't stolen."

"Another way to frame him," Apollo agreed.

**Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back!**

**"But..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing, too?"**

**"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero—coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt—to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"**

**"No!" I said. "Poseidon didn't—I didn't—"**

**"I have said nothing of the helmet's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help.**

"Would the gods help him?" Luna asked softly.

Apollo thought about it and then shook his head. "No one really likes him," he said. "They wouldn't be willing. Very few, like Hestia, Hecate, even Morpheus might pay aid, but a great majority would just scorn him for what they would view as carelessness. Anything that belongs to him is virtually avoided. Why do you think people avoid children of Hades?"

Everyone looked at Nico, who turned pink. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Percy said. Now they were uncomfortable.

Nico sighed. "Grover, read."

The satyr felt all the tension in the room and decided it was best to agree.

**I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."**

**"You didn't try to stop us? But -"**

**"Return my helmet now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counterproposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson—your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."**

"Nico, can I ask why defend him again?" Ron asked weakly.

Nico smiled meekly. "Loyalty, I guess," he said. "He's my dad. It's a force of habit. Besides, he's angry here. Of course he sounds—venomous."

"So, he can sound _nicer_?" Conner asked.

Nico nodded. "A whole lot."

**The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.**

**At that point, I probably should have been terrified. The strange thing was, I felt offended. Nothing gets me angrier than being accused of something I didn't do. I've had a lot of experience with that.**

'_It's aggravating, that's for sure_,' Harry thought to himself. '_That happened a lot when I lived with the Dursleys. They blamed me for everything that went wrong_.'

**"You're as bad as Zeus," I said. "You think I stole from you That's why you sent the Furies after me?"**

**"Of course," Hades said.**

**"And the other monsters?"**

**Hades curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you—I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"**

**"_Easily?_"**

"Well, technically, it should have been harder," Rachel said grimly.

"It was hard enough, thank you," Percy grumbled.

**"Return my property!"**

**"But I don't have your helmet. I came for the master bolt."**

**"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"**

**"But I didn't!"**

**"Open your pack, then."**

A few people sat up in alarm. "What?" Rachel, Perce, Ginny, Nico, and Thalia asked, surprised. Apollo sighed. He knew Ares was behind that little trick there. He had gotten a lot of punishment from Zeus for it too.

"Are you saying the master bolt is IN the bag?" George asked, perplexed. "How, in the name of Merlin, did _that_ happen?"

Harry sat forward and looked at the son of Poseidon. "That's what made your bag heavier, wasn't it?" he asked.

Percy nodded. "I really should have seen it sooner," he said regretfully. "I had it all that time, and I never knew."

"None of us did," Grover said. "Don't blame yourself."

"But what's it doing in the bag?" Conner asked. "How'd it get there?"

Perce sighed. "Magic, probably," he said. "That's an explanation."

Hermione reviewed all her knowledge on the bag so far. She moaned. "Oh no," she said, looking at Ron and Harry. "Don't you see what happened?" They stared at her. "Where did that bag come from?"

Harry thought about it and sighed. "Ares," he said. "Percy got the bag from Ares. Ares did it."

Ron groaned. "Oh, we should have seen that coming," he said. "It's obvious that the _god_ of _war_ would _initiate_ a war."

Apollo nodded, but he, like the demigods and Grover, knew it wasn't Ares who manipulated them; Ares himself had been manipulated into the situation, like a little puppet in a play.

Annabeth winced. "That hadn't occurred to me," she said. "I was so focused on the thought of Hades being the culprit that I forgot about Ares completely."

Travis bit his lip. "So, now we have a new problem," he said anxiously. "How'd you get away from Hades?"

Grover cleared his throat. "If you allow me to read, you'll find out." Everyone shut up. "Thank you," Grover said, before turning back to the book.

**A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my backpack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be...**

**I slung it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "How—"**

**"I—I don't know. I don't understand."**

**"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helmet. Where is it?"**

**I was speechless. I had no helm. I had no idea how the master bolt had gotten into my backpack. I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy.**

**But suddenly the world turned sideways. I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd gotten the backpack from...**

"...Ares," Nico said, pursing his lips. "Now I hate him twice as much..."

**"Lord Hades, wait," I said. "This is all a mistake."**

**"A mistake?" Hades roared.**

**The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds's face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.**

**"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come—I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."**

**Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was my mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.**

"Talk about a slap in the face," Thalia said, wincing.

"He took her before the Minotaur could kill her," Grover said. "The minute he brought her there, I could feel a change in you, Percy."

The son of Poseidon sighed.

Luna tilted her head. "In a way, he saved her from death," she stated. "If the Minotaur did kill her, then you wouldn't have been able to bring her back. She would have had to stay there forever."

Everyone looked at Luna. "That's true," Rachel said slowly. "She was still alive. She could go back."

Percy smiled. "Under other circumstances, I'd thank him, but he did try to blackmail me," he said. For some reason, a few people laughed. George was quiet. This thoughts were on Fred, and how he couldn't come back ever again.

**I couldn't speak. I reached out to touch her, but the light was as hot as a bonfire.**

**"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."**

**I thought about the pearls in my pocket. Maybe they could get me out of this. If I could just get my mom free...**

**"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, and my blood froze.**

"How does he know about the pearls?" Neville asked.

Vena whispered an explanation in Apollo's ear. "Hades always knows what enters his realm," Apollo said, repeating her words. "Hermes said he couldn't sneak a whistle in there without Hades knowing. The only problem is knowing WHO enters the Underworld. If your alive, that makes it a little difficult."

He let them digest that information before Grover continued the story again.

**"Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."**

**My hand moved against my will and brought out the pearls.**

**"Only three," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."**

"That's a little harsh," Rachel said.

"Technically it's fair," Apollo stated, but on seeing the glares he received, he shut up.

I** looked at Annabeth and Grover. Their faces were grim.**

**"We were tricked," I told them. "Set up."**

**"Yes," but why Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"**

"That voice would definitely have something to do with this," he said. "It came up quite a few times before... I don't think it was Ares."

"That's because it wasn't," Percy said. When he didn't elaborate anything else, Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat.

**"I don't know yet," I said. "But I intend to ask."**

**"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.**

**"Percy." Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."**

**"I know that."**

**"Leave me here," he said. "Use the third pearl on your mom."**

"Grover, are you nuts?" Travis yelped. "Stay in the Underworld? Maybe you _did_ eat the pomegranate..."

Grover rolled his eyes. "I was trying to help."

**"No!"**

**"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."**

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You turn into a flower when you die?" she asked skeptically.

Grover blushed. "It's a satyr thing," he mumbled.

Ginny leaned into George's shoulder. "And I thought things could get no weirder."

George chuckled.

**"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."**

**"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."**

**"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.**

**"Stop it, both of you!" I felt like my heart was being ripped in two. They had both been with me through so much. I remembered Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden, and Annabeth saving us from Cerberus; we'd survived Hephaestus's Waterland ride, the St. Louis Arch, the Lotus Casino. I had spent thousands of miles worried that I'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They had done nothing but save me, over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom.**

"It's nice to have friends who'll always be there for you," Percy said, earning smiles from said friends.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. "I know," he said. They beamed at him. He looked at the other wizards, and though Ginny didn't meet his eye, they all smiled at him too.

**"I know what to do," I said. "Take these."**

**I handed them each a pearl.**

**Annabeth said, "But, Percy..."**

**I turned and faced my mother. I desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and use the last pearl on her, but I knew what she would say. She would never allow it. I had to get the bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. I had to stop the war. She would never forgive me if I saved her instead. I thought about the prophecy made at Half-Blood Hill, what seemed like a million years ago. _You will fail to save what matters most in the end_.**

"It was your mum," Harry said sadly.

Percy nodded, gazing at the carpet. Apollo smiled. Percy still got her back.

**"I'm sorry," I told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."**

**The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling..."**

**"I'll find your helmet, Uncle," I told him. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."**

**"Do not defy me—"**

**"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."**

"It's my job to play with Cerberus," Nico said. "Dad still doesn't have the time. But the old boy gets attention, so that's good."

**"Percy Jackson, you will not—"**

**I shouted, "Now, guys!"**

**We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.**

"Well, that's anticlimactic," Ron said. "Now what?"

Annabeth smiled. "We waited."

**Hades yelled, "_Destroy them!_"**

**The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.**

**Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at my feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.**

"Whoa!" Conner said, grinning. "That's a new way to fly."

"It was a bit scary," Grover said. "I thought it would pop and let us drop."

"Did it?"

"...No!"

**Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A.**

**"Look up!" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"**

**Sure enough, we were racing right toward the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us.**

**"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.**

**"I don't think you do!" I shouted back.**

"Oh, that's reassuring," Thalia groaned, not liking the idea of floating up into the air and then falling back down.

**We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.**

**Were we dead?**

**No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, I realized—What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.**

"You're going back to the sea," Luna said in awe.

"Yep," Percy said proudly.

"Poseidon and his tricks," Apollo chuckled fondly. "See, this is why he's my favorite uncle." Vena laughed in his head.

**For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of my sphere, then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. The two other milky spheres, Annabeth and Grover, kept pace with me as we soared upward through the water. And—_ker-blam!_**

**We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "_Dude!_"**

Everyone started to laugh at the mental image.

"Poor guy," Rachel giggled.

**I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. I caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. A curious shark was circling us, a great white about eleven feet long.**

"Eleven feet?" Conner whimpered and sank down in his seat. He curled his legs under him as if he were frightened that a shark would burst out of the floor and snap at them. Travis sighed and patted his back.

"It's not here, Conner," he reassured him.

"O-okay," Conner said in a high voice. Rachel took sympathy on him and gave him a hug.

**I said, "Beat it."**

**The shark turned and raced away.**

"Oh, if only garden gnomes were like that," Ron grumbled. Hermione and Harry laughed.

**The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.**

"Bad mushrooms?" Perce asked.

"Mortal slang," Apollo informed him.

**Somehow, I knew what time it was early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.**

"It's the deadline day," Hermione said. "How are you getting to Manhattan again?"

"Apparition would be nice if they were wizards." Ron sighed.

"Appa-what?" Nico frowned.

"Never mind, Nico," Hermione said, shaking her head.

**In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now.**

**But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.**

**I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked me.**

"I'm done," Grover said, passing the book to Thalia. "It's your turn."

She took the book from him. "So, will you meet up with Ares in the next chapter?" she asked before even checking for the title.

Annabeth nodded. "As soon as we were on the beach."

"Okay then." Thalia took a look at the title and grinned. "Oh goodie."

* * *

Vena gazed down at the swirling images in the pool. She had listened into the reader's session many times, informing Apollo on certain details, but she hadn't paid much attention to the last chapter that the readers had, but she knew that Apollo would update her on anything she could have missed. That way, she wouldn't have missed anything. She was mainly focused on the images she saw in the pool.

She had pondered over it for a long while, thinking about what she had chosen to see within the period of time. The future vision still swam in her sight.

First, there was the son of Hades. Nico would be quite powerful, like all the other Big Three children, but he'd be dangerous. Death and violence would follow his path in adulthood if he wasn't careful. She saw him, tall and handsome, somewhat ruthless when angered. He'd be his father's favorite son. But he'd go too deep if there wasn't something to hold him back and keep him strong.

The image had later changed to Percy. Now, there was a man with the image of a heart-breaker. With the years that passed for him, he still retained his sweet humor and loyalty, but his intelligence level and strategic mind had improved. He was smarter, more handsome, and by far, charming. Vena frowned at that. Charm seemed to be his mate next to sarcasm and a snarky attitude. He was a dangerous enemy to have. It was no wonder he was always at his father's side.

The image had changed to the Stolls after that. Though they still looked a whole lot alike when it came to their faces, but they had found other ways to identify themselves. They were still the jokers, like always, but something about them had changed; something that matured them. Travis was more brutal and stern. Conner was more understanding and caring. Vena enjoyed seeing how they used their individual powers. She just wondered when they would tell the others about them.

* * *

**Sorry about the long while. I hope I didn't annoy you with it. Sorry, if I did. Thanks to the few of you who wished me happy birthday. Not many of my other friends did so because they were in school and I was ill at home.**

**Today was a holiday—_yay!_—but there's school tomorrow and I have to make a representation of a poem for Literature class. I'm freaking out! I don't do so well in front of crowds. I hope I don't throw up on anybody. That would be bad.**

**~o~**

**To Jonathan: There aren't any clones of the readers on earth. The readers are on earth, but they were on Star too. I'll explain it in a few more chapters.**

**To lunalovegood0628: My favorite companion is Donna Noble. Then Rose and Rory tie for second, Martha comes afterwards, and then Amy. I'm not sure why, but Amy isn't a big favorite of mine.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Those questions will be answered as the story goes, but Thalia can't take Nico's potion. It's too danger for her. Annabeth's dream is supposed to be a mystery, so I can't really answer it, but I know that the girl who was laughing is not Percy's child. The "miniture Percy" made me laugh. I'm mentioned her before. Her name starts with M, ends with A, and it has four letters. Why she doesn't like Annabeth is something to be solved in the future. The White Age is something else that I can't explain now, but it definitely has something to do with the Immortal children.**

**To Starkid191: I like all sorts of movies. I didn't know Van Helsing was supposed to be a horror until I looked it up. It always made me laugh, so I thought it was a partial comedy. Of course, I was thirteen when I thought that. David Tennant's Doctor is still my favorite. I like Matt's Doctor well enough, and I liked Christopher's Doctor too. Those are my three favorites. Eight is okay, but he makes me confused.**

**To Juli Beawr: First off, I'm not answering the Percy/Annabeth/Future situation. That would ruin everything. Hopefully, Nico won't have to drink lemoncello again. I don't think Nico is too concerned with anything in the Egyptian side here in this story. Even if he knows details, I don't think he cares too much about it. As for Percy, anything that happens with him is currently undecided. The White Age would be after the Silver Age, the age of the gods, but I'm pretty sure that isn't going to kill his dad. That thought never occurred to me at all.**

**~o~**

**I hope there aren't too many errors up there. I'm being rushed into bed so I can get up early tomorrow, so this is all I got.**

**That's all for now, folks!**

~ArtemisIsis13


	27. I Battle my Jerk Relative

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. Nothing. Nada.**

**So sorry for the long wait. I wanted to read ****_The Mark of Athena_**** before I uploaded the next chapter to the story, and it's a good thing that I did because there are several edits I have to make to the storyline. I won't change any of the previous chapters, but any of the future ones are going to need some work before they can be put up. I have to re-read MoA before I really set up everything else. It's taken me a while to get the book (it took forever to come out in my country) but I have it now, so all is well.**

**You'll see a reference to the third HoO book in this chapter for instance, at the end. If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean. That's the reason why it's taking me so long to update. I'm currently making edits.**

**Other than that, the book was great. If you haven't read it yet, then I won't spoil anything (mostly or directly), but I absolutely loved the book, all of Leo and Percy's chapters and so on. It was all brilliant. I can finally breathe because I don't have to worry too much over Nico anymore. I was really scared for him. The ending with Annabeth almost didn't faze me because I was worrying over the son of Hades. I know—I'm a horrible person.**

**Song of the Chapter - Holding Out For a Hero - Jennifer Saunders (Shrek 2 cover) ****—** ** It was so fun to listen to this song while writing the entire chapter. It never gets old.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**I Battle my Jerk Relative**

* * *

"Oh goodie," Thalia said with a grin as she looked down at the chapter title.

"What?" Conner asked eagerly. "What's it say now?"

"**I Battle my Jerk Relative**," Thalia said keenly. "Now this, I wish I could have seen."

"Maybe the TV will show it," Rachel inputted.

"That would be a sight to see," Neville agreed.

"Yeah, I'd like to know about this too," Apollo said, grinning. "He arrived on Olympus in a sour mood that night. You should have heard the earful he got from Hera." Apollo paused. "Thinking on it, it's a good thing you weren't there. I wish I hadn't been."

"Can we know what happens to him now?" Ginny asked Thalia.

"Sure," Thalia replied and she started to read the book in excitement.

**A Coast Guard boat picked us up, but they were too busy to keep us for long, or to wonder how three kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.**

**They dropped us off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around our shoulders and water bottles that said '****_I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD!'_**** and sped off to save more people.**

**Our clothes were sopping wet, even mine. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared, I'd silently prayed they wouldn't pick me out of the water and find me perfectly dry, which might've raised some eyebrows. So I'd willed myself to get soaked. Sure enough, my usual waterproof magic had abandoned me. I was also barefoot, because I'd given my shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of us was barefoot than wonder why one of us had hooves.**

"So the Mist wouldn't cover that?" Harry asked curiously.

Percy blushed. "I hadn't thought of that," he said. "I still didn't understand the Mist back then."

Grover chuckled. "It was still a good thing, though," he said. "The Mist could have done nothing about it, and if it did, I might have just appeared to have really hairy feet."

That statement made a few people laugh.

**After reaching dry land, we stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. I felt as if I'd just come back from the dead—which I had. My back pack was heavy with Zeus's master bolt. My heart was even heavier from seeing my mother.**

**"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way****—****"**

**"It was a trick," I said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."**

Annabeth sighed softly. She hadn't taken well to that comment, but she still understood where he meant to go with it.

**"Hey," she warned.**

**"You get it, don't you?"**

**She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."**

**"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would some body—"**

**"Percy..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry..."**

**I pretended not to hear her. If I talked about my mother, I was going to start crying like a little kid.**

George pursed his lips. He felt the same way about Fred. He was starting to get better at holding back the grief, now that he has something else to think about, but talking about Fred too soon would crack him. He didn't want that.

**"The prophecy was right," I said. "'You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades's helm, and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And I'll have caused it."**

**Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"**

"Maybe the war god," Ron suggested innocently.

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

**I stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."**

**There he was, waiting for us, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its head light turning the sand red.**

**"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."**

"Nice to see you, too," Travis said sarcastically. "I missed you a lot, you know."

Thalia chuckled and shook her head at his comment. Nico, as well as a majority of the room, seemed to suppress a smile.

**"You tricked me," I said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."**

**Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."**

Luna picked up on his use of words. She added it to her mental list. So far, she hadn't said much, but she was still trying to figure out who had stolen the lightning bolt. She understood that his name started with 'L', and the words 'run errands' almost sounded as if it referred to delivery purposes, a job that belonged to Hermes. She had a strong hunch about who it could be, unless the person hadn't been mention before.

**"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice."**

**The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed **[Percy frowned angrily at the nickname given to his father]** will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath **[Nico folded his arms; it was bad enough _he_ was called that]** will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this..."**

**From his pocket he took out a ski cap—the kind bank robbers wear—and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.**

A growl that sounded remarkably like a hellhound emanated from Nico's thought. His mouth was shut, but his jaw was set.

"Down, Mrs. O'Leary!" Conner said in mock seriousness. Nico glared at him while the wizards raised an eyebrow. Percy didn't know whether to be exasperated or amused, so he kept his face as straight as possible."

"I take it that that is Hades's stolen helmet?" Hermione guessed, noting Nico's growls.

Grover nodded. "Yep. That's the Helm of Darkness."

**"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.**

"I heard you the first time, Grover," Thalia teased.

Grover rolled his eyes in amusement.

**"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."**

**"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.**

"That wouldn't matter to him," Apollo said. "He loves a good war, and it could be with anyone."

"But that's still wrong," Ginny pointed out. "Doesn't he like his family?

Apollo shrugged. "Ah, not really," he said. "Most of us don't like him, and the feeling is mutual. We just put up with each other. We don't always like each other.

"That's not a real family," Ginny pointed out.

Apollo sighed. "Well, it's complicated." He picked up the remote and fiddled with it in his hands. "Do you know how we're all related? Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia are all siblings. Hera married Zeus. They had Hephaestus and Ares. Hephaestus married Aphrodite, and she's dating Ares. Zeus had Persephone with Demeter. Persephone married Hades. Zeus has Athena with Metis, then Artemis and me with Leto, then Hermes with Maia, then Dionysus with Semele. Most of us are half-siblings, not full, and we tend to space away from each other because of it."

"Not to mention that your father has issues," Ron added, turning green. "Did you really have to say all that?"

Apollo bit back a smile. "Sorry," he said. "I tend to blurt things out sometimes."

"A little _too_ bluntly," Neville added.

Apollo smiled. "Again, sorry. Anyways, we're always at odds. Always fighting. Always disagreeing. We've always had our little wars. This war was different; it would have affected mankind, not the little things like, I don't know, Hephaestus setting Ares's war chariot on fire because Ares and Affie had a go in his bed," A few people grimaced at his wording, "or Demeter nearly choking Hades with long grass after Persephone first got pregnant," Nico turned a little green at the thought, "or even Zeus and Poseidon having a battle in the throne room and injuring themselves for two weeks." Thalia and Percy winced. Apollo frowned after a moment, not noticing them. "Or even Artemis throwing me off my chariot into the Atlantic. I got a bad concussion from that incident."

Perce groaned. "If you're going to go into a long speech, write on the notepad," he said, shaking his head.

"A bit rich coming from you," Ron muttered under this breath. Everyone still heard him. Percy Weasley glared.

Apollo chuckled lightly. "Oh, sorry. Got carried away there."

_'Apollo_,_ stop talking_,' Vena pleaded in his head.

Apollo sighed. 'Fine, I will.' He looked at Thalia. "Where were you in the book?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm allowed to read now?" she asked skeptically. "Isn't there anything you wanted to add to your speech?"

Apollo groaned. "No. You can read now. I can get back to it later."

Thalia sighed and started to read again, hoping along with the others that Apollo didn't go on about this.

**Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."**

"Yeah, and he ends up hearing a few choice words from Athena, too," Apollo grumbled. "We're all left listening. It's irritating."

Annabeth frowned. "I'm sure she was trying to make him see sense," she defended.

The sun god raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and she bored the rest of us, too," he retorted. "She goes on, and on, and _on_. Our eyes tend to glaze over."

"I know how that feels," Percy said without thinking. Then he blushed and looked at Annabeth. "Sorry."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm used to it." She had to deal with Percy in that manner quite often when she rattled. It was always amusing when she had to bring him back to earth because she had to kiss him to do so. His startled reaction made her giggle.

**"You gave me the backpack in Denver," I said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."**

**"Yes and no," Ares said. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?"**

**I wasn't sure how Ares knew about that, but I guess a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons.**

"Duh," Apollo said, smirking. "He acts like he created the word. He's a real douche about it."

**"Anyway," Ares continued, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades... Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way—no loss. I still had the weapon."**

**"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" I said. "Why send it to Hades?"**

"That raises an excellent question, actually," Hermione said, frowning. "Why hadn't I seen that angle?"

"Because we're looking at it from Percy's perspective?" Conner guessed.

"But he saw it," Hermione pointed out.

"Out of nowhere."

"Actually, it was always there. We just didn't see it because our heads were rattled with what had just happened."

"Thanks, Annabeth, I could see that for myself."

"I was just trying to help, Con—"

Thalia groaned. "Oh, enough, please, I'm reading," she said in agitation. "We'll find out soon enough. So hush!"

**Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah ... with that kind of fire power..."**

**He held the trance for one second ... two seconds...**

"Okay, what's wrong with him?" Ginny asked. She looked at Apollo. "Is this like the telepathic conversations you have with other gods?"

Apollo nodded. "Yeah, it is. But I don't think he's talking to a god..."

He left the sentence hanging, waiting for another question. Most of the wizards just tried to figure it out logically, while the Greeks were certain that it was something to do with Kronos.

"I'm going to continue, if anyone cares," Thalia said, a little miffed. She was starting to get annoyed with all the interruptions.

**I exchanged nervous looks with Annabeth.**

**Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red-handed, holding the thing."**

**"You're lying," I said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"**

**"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sun glasses, as if they were about to catch fire.**

A few people grimaced at the mental image. Didn't that hurt?

**"You didn't order the theft," I guessed. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."**

"Your guesses are pretty accurate," Apollo noted.

"Most of the time, I think I'm bluffing," Percy said sheepishly.

**"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"**

"Dreams?" Luna asked, frowning. "Percy never mentioned dreams."

Apollo sighed. "Ares was always bad at keeping his cool. He let that slip."

That put everyone who didn't know the story of the oncoming war on red alert: something or someone was controlling the War God.

**I hesitated. "Who said anything about dreams?"**

**Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.**

**"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."**

"Are all gods like this?" Ron asked. "If so, I'm glad I only met one."

Apollo chuckled. "Ah, lots of us our nice," he said. "And we don't need direct violence to punish anyone."

Ron grimaced. "Oh, that makes me feel much better," he grumbled sarcastically. Apollo ignored him and Thalia continued reading.

**He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.**

**I stepped into the surf. "Fight me yourself, Ares."**

"Are you bloody crazy?" George asked. "That's the War God. I think that means he has efficient skill at killing!"

"You're right," Percy agreed. "Then again, I'm impulsive."

"Obviously," half the room echoed.

**He laughed, but I heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."**

**"Scared?"**

**"In your adolescent dreams. But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."**

**Annabeth said, "Percy, run!"**

**The giant boar charged.**

**But I was done running from monsters. Or Hades, or Ares, or anybody.**

Thalia smiled as she read that. He was finally standing up for himself.

**As the boar rushed me, I uncapped my pen and side stepped. Riptide appeared in my hands. I slashed upward. The boar's severed right tusk fell at my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.**

**I shouted, "****_Wave!_****"**

**Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.**

Everyone turned to look at a blushing Percy, impressed.

"Wow," Nico said, grinning. "You barely knew how to use half of your powers and you did that."

"I was angry," Percy admitted.

"And impulsive," Harry noted. "That must have helped."

"Can we hear what happens now?" Thalia asked, waving the book around. "I want to see what Ares does."

**I turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" I asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"**

"I think he's trying to kill himself," Conner muttered to Travis.

**Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into—"**

**"A cockroach," I said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"**

Apollo leaned back in his seat. "You sound like Poseidon when he's pissed off," he said. "Usually, that's the time when the others run."

"Like father, like son," Rachel said, shaking her head in amusement. "The only difference is that he's a god and you're not."

Percy rolled his eyes.

**Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."**

**"If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt. If I win, the helm and the bolt are mine and you have to go away."**

**Ares sneered. He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed classic or modern?"**

"What does that mean?" Neville asked. "Classic or modern."

"Classic is Roman gladiator style or Ancient Greek sword fighting," Apollo explained. "Modern would be with mortal weapons, maybe hand-to-hand combat even."

"Oh. Thanks."

**I showed him my sword.**

**"That's cool, dead boy," he said. "Classic it is. The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth."**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."**

**"He's a coward," I told her.**

Thalia stared at Percy like he dropped from the planet Neptune. "And I thought you were insane enough."

Percy resisted glaring at her and put on an easy smile in reply.

**She swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."**

**She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around my neck.**

**"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."**

**My face felt a little warm, but I managed a smile. "Thanks."**

Conner wolf-whistled at what Thalia had just read and Rachel burst into laughter; she slapped his arm playfully. Percy was blushing crimson and Annabeth was following.

"Shut up," Percy muttered, embarrassed. Everyone else just snickered.

**"And take this," Grover said. He handed me a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."**

**"Grover ... I don't know what to say."**

"Neither do we," Travis said, suppressing laughter.

Grover shook his head, looking sheepish.

**He patted me on the shoulder. I stuffed the tin can in my back pocket.**

Thalia looked up from the book at Apollo. "Um, it stopped off," she said. "Video time."

"Oh, now we get see what happened," Ginny said, sitting up. "Ares better get his rump whipped!"

Perce looked surprised. "Ginny!" he said reproachfully.

"What?" she asked innocently.

He shook his head. "You've changed."

"Well, I'm not a child anymore. What did you expect?"

Apollo rolled his eyes and pressed a button on the remote. "Okay, now. **Book One, Chapter Twenty, Scene One**."

A title appeared on the screen, captioned: **I Battle My Jerk Relative — Scene One —Ares versus Percy**.

"What a title," Conner said sarcastically. "It could have been better."

The scene started and everyone looked on eagerly.

o

_Ares came into view, stalking towards Percy with his sword glinting like fire. "You all done saying good-bye?" The scene shot to Percy's slightly nervous face as he turned to approach the War God, leaving Grover and Annabeth behind, both appearing worried for their friend._

_"I've been fighting for eternity, kid," Ares gloated. "My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"_

o

"A smaller ego, maybe," Present Percy muttered, earning a snicker from Grover and Ron.

o

_Percy didn't answer him. He backed into the surf, keeping his eyes on Ares. Suddenly, the audio echoed Annabeth's voice, as if from a memory: __**Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes**__._

o

"What was that?" Hermione asked, startled.

"An echo," Apollo said. "It'll come up when a specific quote of a memory or thought comes up."

o

_Ares charged a Percy, swinging his sword down towards Percy. The scene went to slow motion, showing exactly what Percy did in response. The water around Percy's feet whirled and pushed him up into the air. As Percy catapulted over the War god, he slashed at him with his sword but Ares was quick to defend himself. He deflected the attack and grinned._

_"Not bad, not bad," he commented before striking again._

_It was obvious that Percy was trying to get back to the water but Ares fought him away from the sea onto the sand. The scene shot to Annabeth jumping on her toes, looking like she wanted to call out something. Grover was chewing on his nails. His eyes were slit-pupiled again._

o

"We were really anxious," Grover admitted.

"Terrified would be the better word," Annabeth corrected.

o

_Ares kept slashing at Percy and the twelve-year-old was doing his best to keep himself alive._

o

The readers winced when he got a few close calls. The wizards were stunning at how the sword-fighting really worked, but in some aspects, they thought that movements were like a bit like dueling.

Thalia and the Stolls, even an input or two from Nico, critiqued Percy's sword work. He was less than pleased.

"No! No! Don't go there! He'll almost—ah!" Conner exclaimed, jumping in his seat and startling Rachel. "You got lucky!"

Thalia clucked her tongue. "Get in close! You have the shorter sword!"

Percy pursed his lips. "I'm getting to that," he grumbled.

"Go left! _Your left!_" Travis snapped, forgetting that it all already happened, "Damn, Percy, bad footing!"

"Guys, give him a break. He was an amateur!"

"...Thanks, Nico."

"Oh, sorry..."

o

_Percy failed to get any good openings and since Ares had the long sword, he had a higher advantage._

_Another echo came into play, that of Luke's voice, only recognized by the Greeks: __**Get in close. When you've got the shorter blade, get in close**__._

o

"Who does that voice belong to?" Harry asked.

"Luke," Thalia replied, trying not to sound sad. Even when Luke was the enemy, when he was playing the ally, he had been helpful. "Now you know what to do, at least."

o

_Percy tried to follow that memory command, but Ares knocked Riptide out of Percy's grip_ [The readers yelped] _and then kicked Percy in the chest, sending him_ (shown in slow-motion) _several yards away. He crashed into the sand with a loud 'thud'. Percy's face was contorted with pain._

o

Most of readers all groaned. Even Apollo looked sympathetic; he knew what that was like.

"Ouch!" George yelped, flinching. "That's got to hurt!"

Ginny was knocked towards Neville by George's outburst and almost kicked Luna, who was seated next to her legs, by accident; luckily she didn't.

"I've had worse, but at no one kicked me like that," Harry said, grimacing.

"What could be worse than that?" Thalia asked in disbelief.

"Falling fifty feet."

Thalia paled. "Oh. Never mind."

o

_Annabeth yelped and looked around as though searching for something that would help him. Instead, she spotted approaching police vehicles._

_She turned to the son of Poseidon and yelled, "Percy! Cops!"_

_Percy's hand was placed over the spot that Ares had kicked and struggled to get back on his feet, keeping his eyes on Ares alone. In a short distance, mortal police officers got out of their car and pointed their guns towards the beach. A random mortal pointed out towards Ares and Percy._

_"There, officer!" he yelled. "See?"_

o

"Who's that?" Luna asked.

"No idea," Grover replied. "Random mortal."

o

_One of the officers squinted. "Looks like that kid on TV." He shook his head turned to his partner. "What the heck?"_

_The partner said, "That guy's armed. Call for backup." The other scrambled for his walkie talkie._

_The scene cut back to Percy as he rolled aside to avoid Ares's blade. He ran over to Riptide and snatched it up. He turned to swipe at Ares's face but was deflected again. Percy started to back towards the surf, looking exhausted and angry, and Ares had no choice but to follow._

_In the distance, Annabeth and Grover were backing away from the police, looking anxiously at Percy. A crowd started to form, looking on as more policemen arrived. The screen focused on two random people, but when it showed their feet, the readers realized they were satyrs. Among the crowd, there were a few shimmering forms too; ghosts sent to see what happened. At a skyline level, the three Furies bared their teeth as they gazed down on the fight._

o

"That's just creepy," Thalia said, biting her lower lip.

"Unfortunately, you get used to it," Nico said dejectedly.

"How?" Thalia asked, staring at him in disbelief. Conner shushed them before he could answer.

o

_Ares looked smug. "Admit it, kid. You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."_

_Percy's lips thinned as he continued to back into the surf. Ares attacked again and the tip of his sword grazed Percy's arm._

o

The readers winced.

"Ouch!" Rachel said, looking sympathetic.

"Be careful!" Hermione blurted out like an over-protective mother.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "He's in the middle of a sword-fight, Hermione! How can he be careful?"

She glared at him.

o

_The scene showed one of the officers bringing out a megaphone. "Drop the guns!" he ordered. "Set them on the ground. Now!"_

_Percy raised an eyebrow and glanced at the swords. For a single instant, each turned into a gun, Ares: a rifle; Percy: a shotgun._

o

"So that's how the Mist works," Harry commented, "Odd, but brilliant."

"Most of time," Conner said. "Lots of the time, it's not always in our favor."

"Yeah, it puts us in a bad light," Annabeth agreed.

o

_Ares turned around to face the oncoming crowd. There were five police cars out there and a line of officers were crouched behind them with their guns pointed in the direction of the fighters_

_Ares shouted at them, "This is a private matter! Be gone!" And with that, he swept his hands outwards and suddenly, the patrol cars burst into flames with a loud BOOM, sending tendrils of flame sky high! The crowd let out terrified screams._

o

Everyone jumped in their seats.

"Is he crazy?!" Hermione exclaimed as she watched the poor officers dove for cover. "He could have killed them!"

"I think that's the point, Hermione," Apollo said grimly. "Ares doesn't care. He's just in it for the action."

"And he's laughing!" Harry said angrily as Ares bellowed with gleeful laughter. "I think the blood-lust went to this head, he's mad."

"I agree a hundred percent," Percy said, nodding.

o

_Ares turned back to face Percy, whose face showed exhaustion and horror. "Now, little hero," he said cruelly, "Let's add you to the barbecue."_

_And he started to slash down on Percy again._

o

The readers jumped and groaned at the little mistakes and near misses that Percy had to face.

"I would have rolled to the left," Annabeth said, tilting her head. "It would have been a better advantage."

"Well, I didn't know that," Percy grumbled. "I was fighting for my life."

"Which is exactly why you should have gone to the left."

"Who cares about the left?" Thalia said, balling her hands into fists. "Percy! No! You should take a step back or two! He's closing in on you!"

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Percy protested. "The ocean is right there, see!"

o

_Sure enough, the scene showed Percy backing away slowly into the surf, leading Ares along with him._

o

"Finally. Something you can do," Rachel said. "And Percy, you should have trained more when you were twelve."

Percy grumbled to himself so much and Grover and Annabeth fought laughter.

o

_They were in the surf now. Percy backed into the sea, taking deep breathes as Ares bore down on him with his sword raised. The scene showed the waves receding, but instead of them coming back, they kept going back._

o

"Percy, what are you doing?" Neville asked. "You _are_ doing that, right?"

Percy nodded. "Big surprise time."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. If Percy was going to do what he thought he was going to do, then it would explain why Ares arrived on Olympus soaking wet.

o

_Then Percy slumped down his shoulders and lowered his sword just as Ares reached him_. ["Are you crazy?!" a few people exclaimed; Percy resisted smiling because he knew what was coming]. _Percy's eyes glowed with determination as the water of the sea suddenly burst into a humongous wave, throwing Percy up in to the air, over Ares head. Ares didn't even have time to register that before the wave slammed into him._

o

There were cheers from the readers at that point. Percy looked both amused and a little proud of that moment.

o

_Ares surfaced from the crash, spitting out a long string of cuss words while he was at it. _["Hera hates it when he does that," Apollo told the others.]_ He even spewed out seaweed from his mouth. _[Everyone started laughing.]_ Meanwhile, Percy had landed behind him, ready to fight again. It was obvious that Ares was disoriented from the water attack. Percy made a feint towards his head, and as Ares moved to deflect it, Percy changed tactics and immediately stabbed Riptide towards his foot._

_Underwater, the readers saw Percy stabbed the tip of the blade right into Ares's heel._

o

"YES!" The Greeks in room cheered.

"Ouch!" The Brits winced at the same time with them, but they still looked happy like the others.

Rachel composed herself about a second afterwards, having been one of the loudest screamers. Nico was smirking at her, seeing how embarrassed she was. She swatted him on the head and he turned away, still smirking and looking a lot like his father.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Travis yelled, jumping up in the air and accidentally landing on his brother. Unfortunately, both brothers couldn't stay upright. Apollo had to pause the clip and watch in amusement as the Stolls tumbled to the floor in a heap next to Luna. Everyone burst into laughter.

"_Hey!_ Get off!" Conner snapped, pushing Travis off him. "You're no lightweight, you know!"

Everyone laughed harder. Travis was beet red as he nudged Conner in the ribs and got to his feet. Conner scrambled up on his own, wincing at the fact that his older brother nearly broke his spine.

"You two okay?" Ginny asked, trying not to giggle.

"I'm fine," Travis said, sitting back down.

Conner made a face and said, "Speak for yourself," he said. "You're not the one who had to act like a pillow."

Travis tried not to smile. "Sorry."

"Hmph," Conner said down and looked away from his brother. The serious look would have worked if he hadn't been fighting a grin. Everyone else laughed the rest of their share before Apollo was allowed to continue the scene.

The readers were in a much better mood now.

o

_Ares let out a terrible roar of pain_ [the readers almost had to cover their ears] _and the water around Ares blasted back with such force that it left behind a gigantic circle of wet mud in its wake. From the wound, a golden liquid poured out like a faucet out of his blood._

o

"Is that blood?" Hermione asked.

Apollo nodded. "Ichor, the blood of immortals," he explained, "It is always golden."

o

_Ares appeared shocked that he had been injured_. ["Nowadays, only Artemis and Athena could put a scratch on him, but they always avoid him, so an injury's a bit rare," Apollo explained.] _He limped towards Percy with a look of pure hatred on his face, spewing a long list of curses in Greek and English_. ["If I had a galleon for every one of those, I'd be richer than the Malfoys," Ron muttered to Hermione and Harry, causing them to smirk.] _He hadn't gotten close to Percy when he stopped in his tracks._

_Suddenly, all the lights went out. The scene itself darkened as the sky went black and all sound went mute. Even the color seemed to fade, turning sight gray._

o

"What's going on?" Luna asked. "Is something wrong with the scene?"

Apollo shook his head, turning slightly pale. "No, that's actually happening," he said, looking unnerved. It was natural for all the gods to feel that way about Kronos.

"So what's happening?" Neville and Harry asked in unison.

No one answered; they only watched to see what would happen now for Ares and Percy.

o

_The scene shot to the mortals screaming, but no sound was heard. They started to run away from the beach like an explosion was about to happen. The scene showed Annabeth and Grover shivering, like it was seriously cold out there on the beach. Percy's expression was passed exhaustion as he tried to figure out what was going on; he started to look helpless._

_Then the darkness suddenly vanished and everything reverted to what it had been before. Annabeth and Grover had stopped shivering; both of them looked shocked at what had just happened. The wet circle of mud was replaced with water once more. The mortals were still fleeing, but they were far from the scene. The police cars were on fire and the officers were far from them, dazed._

_Ares's stunned expression changed as he lowered his sword. He glared at Percy and said, "You have made an enemy, godling. You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."_

o

"He cursed you?" half the room exclaimed.

"Typical Ares," Apollo said, shaking his head. "Poseidon wanted to attack him for that."

"Did he?" Harry asked.

"Let's just say that Ares got lots of sand in a place where the sun doesn't shine," Apollo said, causing all of them to wince.

"I didn't know you were cursed," Rachel said.

"I only affected me once in my memory," Percy said. "When we get to Mount Tam, you'll know."

Those who knew about what happened on Mount Tam bowed their heads. They had lost Zoë Nightshade that night. Apollo knew that greatly affected Artemis. It was the only day of that year she had allowed him to give her a comforting hug.

o

_As he spoke, his body began to glow. Annabeth ran forward and yelled at the son of Poseidon, "Percy! Don't watch!"_

_Percy did as he was told._

o

"What happens if you watch?" Perce asked, sure he wouldn't like the answer.

"You die," Apollo said simply. "No mortal can look upon a god's true form and live."

Everyone hoped, in the back of their minds, that Apollo wouldn't go godly-form anytime soon.

o

_The scene showed Ares getting brighter and brighter before cutting to Percy, who had shielded his face completely. The light was so bright that it illuminated his entire body. There was even a slight high-pitch sound coming from the flat screen to add to what was happening._

_And then it was all gone. The light faded away into nothing, and it was dark again. Percy hesitantly unshielded his face, as well did Annabeth and Grover, to see that Ares had vanished, leaving them alone on the beach._

o

The scene stopped. It took the readers a moment to realize that the visual aspect was over and that it was time to read again.

Thalia spoke first. "Okay, before we start reading, we need to get this straight," she said, looking at Percy. "After reading this book, we're going to practice sword-fighting. You need the practice."

Percy raised his hands. "Hey!" he protested, "I can do a whole lot better now!"

"Better isn't best," Travis spoke up. "Besides, it's been a while since we all practiced. It feels strange not getting in the daily training, you know what I'm saying?"

The other Greeks considered this. "Well, it wouldn't be right to go out of practice," Annabeth said slowly. "But we can't do that here."

Apollo mentally consulted with Vena for a moment and nodded. "Too true," he said. "You can go outside and practice. Even show the wizards what you can do."

Everyone exchanged a few looks. "We could show them a wizard's duel," Ginny said hesitantly, "Not anything serious, but just the basics."

The wizards sat up at the thought of it. Half of them were heartened by the prospect of showing the demigods how they fought, but the other half were still reeling from the war. But they weren't fighting to kill. It could be like a DA lesson.

"I guess we could," Harry agreed, "But later. How many more chapters are there?"

Thalia checked with the book. "About two more after I'm done," she said.

"We'll be done before morning," Rachel said with a smile. "What are we going to do this afternoon? Sword-fighting and wizard-dueling?"

Apollo smirked. "Well, maybe you could do that tomorrow," he said. "I have a feeling that this afternoon is already set."

Annabeth looked confused. "On what?" she asked.

Apollo just smiled. "You'll see."

That answer was one of the most annoying for the wizards, but now the demigods were starting to get a taste of it. They didn't like it.

"Not one hint?" Conner asked.

Apollo shook his head. He wasn't going to tell them that they would meet Vena after they finished reading. She had decided that it best to be there with them for a while, especially since would be able to explain the plots better than him and he could get a good break.

"If you want to know, get reading," he said. "Then you'll find out."

Thalia picked up the book, but before she could start reading, Apollo looked at Percy and said, "Good job with Ares, kid. I hadn't seen him like that in years and he thoroughly deserved it. I'll never forget the look on his face from that event. Even Athena was surprised, and it takes a lot to surprise her."

Percy ended up blushing, and just to see how he'd react, the Stolls clapped. Seeing Percy's embarrassed and modest expression, everyone else followed until the poor son of Poseidon was redder than his own blood. Annabeth couldn't but smile at how cute he looked. Thalia, to spare him from combusting, started to read.

Percy was grateful. Harry smiled in understanding. The Wizarding community treated him that way, and it was more people by far. He just wanted some peace.

**Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. I picked it up and walked toward my friends.**

Nico smiled. He had been quiet for a while, but he hadn't forgotten about his father's symbol of power. At least it was safe again.

**But before I got there, I heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of me.**

**The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed, as if she'd been planning to have me for supper, but had decided I might give her indigestion.**

Now that the danger was over, all humor set in again.

"Seriously?" George asked, chortling.

Percy shrugged, grinning as Annabeth kissed him on the cheek.

**"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"**

**I tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.**

**"Return that to Lord Hades," I said. "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."**

**She hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again..."**

**She cackled, savoring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.**

"Nico, how do you cope around those things?" Ginny asked.

Nico sighed. "Who ever said I did? I used to being around them. It's just something that goes around." He shrugged. "Personally, I think they just want to tear me to pieces. The only reason they don't is because of Dad."

Hermione frowned. "And you're okay with that."

Nico hesitated before repeating, "I'm used to being around them."

"Code for 'Nico doesn't like living with the Furies at all'," Thalia laughed, causing the poor boy to scowl.

**I joined Grover and Annabeth, who were staring at me in amazement.**

**"Percy ..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."**

**"Terrifying," said Annabeth.**

**"Cool!" Grover corrected.**

"Yeah, Annabeth, it's cool!" Conner said, sticking up for Grover.

"And terrifying," Hermione added coolly. "He could have died."

Travis shrugged. "We're demigods. It's an occupational hazard." Hermione rolled her eyes at the statement.

**I didn't feel terrified. I certainly didn't feel cool. I was tired and sore and completely drained of energy.**

"And there's that," Thalia agreed.

"We can relate," Ginny said as the other wizards nodded. Lots of the time, they felt that way with dueling.

**"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" I asked.**

**They both nodded uneasily.**

**"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.**

"Wishful thinking," Nico said, frowning. "That was something worse that the furies."

That put an edge in everyone's mood.

"Thank you, Captain Sunshine," Thalia grumbled.

Apollo pouted playfully. "Hey! That's my nickname!" he joked. His tone amused everyone.

**But I wasn't so sure. Something had stopped Ares from killing me, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the Furies.**

**I looked at Annabeth, and an understanding passed between us. I knew now what was in that pit, what had spoken from the entrance of Tartarus. I reclaimed my backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still there. Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.**

"World War III?" Ron asked. "Wizards hear stuff about that, but it never involves us."

"So wizards haven't been affected the war? What about the London Blitz?" Rachel asked.

Hermione frowned. "Very little have been, from what I read," she said. "The Ministry of Magic used a specific amount of its resources to keep its entrances in London from getting damaged by the muggle war and many precautions were given in concerns with it. There were quite a few in the magical community who lost family members or little families who lived in London, anyways. My grandparents were children when it happened. They said it was horrible."

Perce nodded. "Too true," he said. "People were sure not to be in Diagon Alley when it happened. It was well protected, but no one could be too cautious. It was a horrible time then, even for our population. The muggles had it worse."

"You're right," Nico said, rubbing his eyes. He didn't feel any sharp pains, but his head spun. "I ... I remember Mom talking about it with Dad... He said so many had died. The Underworld was swollen..."

"Oh, right, you lived around that time," Hermione said, still slightly unnerved that he had lived in the time of that war. "We don't have to talk about it."

"Thanks," he said. "I feel nauseous."

Apollo got up and checked his forehead. "Oh, that's what it is," he said, using a mental scan to see what was going on. "She could have told me that."

"Who could have told you what?" Harry asked, but Apollo didn't answer.

"Hmm, oh nothing." He lit his finger ablaze and ran it back and forth between Nico's eyes so that he would follow it. "His memories were wiped, remember? The healing energy from Star is filling up the blanks, resurfacing the memories. Little things like titles and names will surface the lost memories. It might do so with the rest of you. It'll sharpen your memories."

"The Lotus Hotel," Annabeth recalled. "He went ballistic."

"That's because it was a big memory," Apollo explained. "Most of his life. Of course it would be dangerous. Decades worth of memory short-circuited will have a painful effect."

"Uh, thanks, I was there," Nico grumbled. "Got weak; Got bloodied; Got the t-shirt."

Apollo snorted and straightened up. "You'll be fine," he said, returning to his seat. "You have to eat more than the others though."

Nico sighed and looked down at his flat stomach. He was full as it was. He had to eat more?

Thalia shook her head and poked his flat stomach, causing him to involuntarily giggle. "You need it," she said.

"Yeah, he's thinner than the Tenth Doctor," Conner agreed. When no one understood (sans Apollo and Travis), he said, "Doctor Who." Only Hermione understood him after that. Her father said it was very popular. Harry and the pureblood wizards hadn't heard of it.

Thalia shook her head. "Reading on."

**"We have to get back to New York," I said. "By tonight."**

**"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we -"**

**"Fly," I agreed.**

Percy and Thalia looked uncomfortable with the thought. Harry didn't. He loved to fly.

**She stared at me. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"**

**"Yeah," I said. "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."**

"I thought you were nuts when you said that," Grover muttered.

Thalia turned the page. "Well, I'm done. And I agree with Grover. You're nuts." Percy pouted. "Who's next?"

"Me," Nico said, taking the book from her.

"You sure you can read?" she asked.

He sighed. "I can talk and still identify words," Nico said. "I'm pretty sure I can read."

A few people chuckled. Apollo said, "Take it away then, di Angelo.

* * *

Vena smiled and checked for the time. It was still early in the morning.

"Apollo," she said, knowing that he would be able to hear her. "I'm going on. I have a previous engagement I have to contend with."

"_Where are you off to?_" Apollo asked back.

"To see an old friend," Vena replied. "Watch the children."

"_Oh, so they're children now?_"

"No, that was the hint."

It took Apollo a while to get it. "_Oh. That._"

Vena was aware that that event had a sore memory for him, but she didn't waste time thinking about it. Apollo was left in charge of the readers. Vena didn't want to risk their previous fiasco again.

After ensuring that all precautions were in place, Vena changed her clothes. She wore black denim jeans, black boots, a burgundy cashmere sweater and a comfortable black jacket with silver buttons. She left her hair down and picked up a bag off her dressing table. Then, in a flash, she had left Star and gone to earth.

Los Angeles… Vena looked around the street. It was a bright sunny day. Mortals were running along, doing shopping, going to work, and many other various chores. Vena had prepared herself for the oncoming noise level about to hit her head. Otherwise, she would have collapsed.

_'I wonder what I should have for lunch, maybe crab—'_

_'If she tells me one more time that I—'_

_'I hate her! It's a party not a damn—'_

_'Where did I put my keys?'_

_'Did he tell me to go to the pharmacy or the grocery to wait for him?'_

_'Where's Mom?'_

_'You see that one? Pretty, she is.'_

_'I can't believe I lost that receipt!'_

So many voice echoes through her head, louder now because she was among them. The advantage of being on Star was that their voices were a tad fainter. Vena looked around to see who was watching. Thanks to the Mist, no one had noticed her sudden appearance. She tucked a lock of her curly hair behind her ear and started to walk down the road.

A few people turned their eyes to look at her. When you were a god, it didn't matter how normal you looked. There was always going to be something to catch a mortal's eye, not for any interest, but merely out of a temporary curiosity.

'_Who is that?_' one young man would think. '_Nice butt_.' Vena wished she could turn around and slap him, but she had other places to be.

"Hey, babe!" Vena stopped and looked around to see another mortal leaning against the wall, staring at her with greedy blue eyes. His brown hair was windswept and his handsome face was pulled up in a sneaky smile.

"Hi. Bye," she replied before she started walking again. From the trail of his thoughts, she knew he would follow. Like she predicted, he started to follow her.

'_Typical_,' she thought to herself. DOA Studios wasn't far from where she was. She'd be there in no time. Still, the mortal was following her. She already knew who he was: Joel Hendericks, age 26, born in LA. He was a big flirt, not a criminal of any sort, but if he kept up with that attitude, it was most likely that he would become a predator.

"You come here often?"

'_That one's getting old_,' Vena thought to herself. Even Apollo stopped using it. "Um, no. Actually, I often visit Mars. It's quaint there. Nice and quiet with endless sand. I'm not a big fan of sand, not since Cleopatra threw a handful in my face that one time she and I got in an argument hundreds of years ago."

It was safe to say that Joel stopped following her. Vena bit back laughter. Ah, mortals, they were a source of true entertainment, especially when listening to their reactions to her words. They thought she was crazy. They weren't wrong.

Vena finally made it to DOA Studios. She walked in without anyone noticing. She didn't bother looking around. There were only dead people here, and their thoughts were very scarce, especially since they thought very slowly. She made her way through the crowd, all the way up to Charon, who was busy reading a book.

"I have an appointment with Lord Hades," she said.

"Good for you," Charon said, not looking up at her. "Come back when you're dead. Then we'll talk."

Vena snorted and pulled out the bag from her pocket. "Really, Charon? Is that any way to speak to the daughter of Chaos?"

Charon's head shot up to look at her. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it's _you_," he said irritably, "The Master's favorite apprentice. You haven't changed much. What are you doing here?"

"As I said, I have an appointment," Vena replied coolly. She and Charon got along fairly well, but they didn't like each other.

"I wasn't notified." A beeping sound came from his pocket and he pulled out his phone to read a message on the screen. "I stand corrected." He sighed and smirked. "You know the price."

Vena plopped the bag down on the desk. "There are extras," she informed him. "I'll pay for ten other passengers."

"That's generous of you." He stood up and looked around. "Ten of you, up front. I don't have time to waste."

Charon loaded the first ten spirits who reached the boat before ushering the others back to where they were. He then allowed Vena to stand next to him as he started to take them across the River Styx. They didn't talk the entire way and when they got to the other side, Vena gladly left to go to the palace.

As an immortal, she had the ability to pass all of the dead and go directly to Hades's palace. To reach the Underworld, she needed permission, which she got. She disappeared from the lines of ghosts and appeared in Persephone's garden. She didn't have to enter the palace to talk to Hades. He was standing in the garden, waiting for her.

"Lady Vena," he said as she approached him.

"Lord Hades," she said, giving him a small bow. "How are you?"

"Better if I know that my son's alright," Hades replied, rubbing his wrist. '_I need more ambrosia_.'

"Your wounds are still hurting, I see," Vena said, taking his milky white hand into her own. "You, and most of the other Olympians."

Hades scoffed and shook his head. "I've been worse," he said. "Now, you said you needed pomegranate seeds. What for, exactly?"

Vena took a deep breath. "I think you know," she said. "_Mavros Poton_."

Hades's expression was stone. "That would _kill_ him," he said.

"No, it won't," Vena reassured him. "Nico's blood needs stabilization. He needs the whole potion, not a sample. I can't keep giving him the weak solution."

The god of the dead's lips tightened. "You know what that potion did to me," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "It can change thought patterns. It will darken him."

Vena jutted out her chin. "You used to take goblets at a time," she reminded him. "He'll only need a drop or two. The effect will be hardly noticeable. I promised that he'd live and he will."

Hades didn't answer her. He stared at Vena, still remembering the times when she was still young and happy. Vena could hear him, what thoughts went through his head. '_So different now_,' he pondered. '_Acts sweet; but there's darkness in her now... The fault for that may rest with me, but time has changed us all_.'

"It was Apollo who changed me, not you," Vena said. "You won't have to worry about that. Being your apprentice didn't darken my spirit, but just sharpened my mind." She looked towards one of Persephone's pomegranate trees. "Now, for the seeds?"

A faint smile crept up at the corner of Hades's mouth. It was cruel but wary as he went and plucked on of the juicy fruit from the tree and broke it in half. "How many?"

"Three pomegranates… I just need seven seeds for every stirring." Hades removed three pomegranates from the tree.

"Be sure that he doesn't swallow any."

Vena smiled. "I'm not going to make him an early subject and neither shall I put him in a _death trance_," she assured him.

"Is that so?"

Vena placed the fruit in a new little bag from her pocket. "Oh yes," she replied. Then she brought up her finger to the part where her heart beat and made an 'X'. "Cross my heart."

Hades smirked at the old joke. "And hope to die."

* * *

**First off: random question. Did anyone see the most recent episode of Doctor Who called "The Angels Take Manhattan"? If you did what did you think of it, because the Doctor made my cry. You would have thought it'd be the Ponds, but no, it was the Doctor who made me sob hysterically. I hate those 'dam' Weeping Angels. I was prepared for the Ponds to leave, but the Doctor had me depressed for the entire day. Damn you, Moffat! You're playing with my emotions! Again!**

**Second off: Who recognized the 'How to Train Your Dragon' reference? In the movie, I always listened out for that one. I just replaced Vikings with Demigods.**

**Third off: Who read Mark of Athena? I thought it was incredible! I didn't cry at the ending, but I was totally shocked. My friend is dying to get the book. He always makes me go to the bookstore to see if it's in and what the price is. Yeesh, I think he can do that himself, wouldn't you think?**

**Anyways, that all with the 'offs'. So sorry it took a long time to update. You should see the work I'm getting here. Well, no, you shouldn't. I went off with math for so long that numbers zoomed through my head and making me go crazy. It's no wonder Einstein was a little weird.**

**Okay, I'm rambling, again. Oh, random fact: I was talking with my friend earlier as she said she wanted to visit Romania, and when I told her I wanted to go to Rome, she thought that was ****_in_**** Romania. Oi…**

**~o~**

**To lunalovegood0628: Travis and Conner's individual powers may come up when I'm writing the Sea of Monsters. It's either then, or when I reach the Titan's Curse.**

**To RedRangerBelt: I'm still fleshing out the Stolls' backgrounds, but along with the story, you will learn more about them, that's for sure. You'll see why they live at camp and what they do every now and then.**

**To Jonathan: I'm sure that one or two of Vena's siblings will appear in the story, and even an appearance or two from Chaos. The end of the story is going through editing stages, so I can't really spoil on anything about them.**

**To procellous: I know, right? I just hate when authors just change the personality of the characters to suit their own will and not even stick to the real characters. It's completely alien.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: Yep, "Mini-Percy" is Mika. There's a lot going on in her story that I wish I could put in now, but no, I have to patient. Trust me, it's killing me. Oh, and the errors. The errors are my greatest enemy. They always mix up what I'm really trying to say, and no matter what I do, they are always there *grumbles in the background*. At least you still enjoyed the story. That makes me happy.**

**To 11h05: Yeah, lost control of power is never a good sign. Someone could die. Oh, wait, forget I said that. Anyways, I have said this before, and I'm doing Percy's books first and then Harry's. I already have a good idea about what I want to do in between and changing books will just confuse me. One series at a time.**

**To HPPJOandHG4ever: Well, they're not exactly going to war, but they need to get to know each other. Reading about each other seems to be a good option.**

**To Sentai-Rider Fan: I haven't read a lot of crossover-read-the-books for Harry and Percy, so I'm not a real judge, but thank you for thinking its successful. I couldn't deal with a whole lot of characters, most of the time. I only really need the essential ones.**

**To Neonhedgehog: I'm afraid that the time-lines won't exactly co-exist with each other. Thalia is from 2009 and that song came out in 2012. It wouldn't really work and I don't think it's too comforting. Nice idea, but not practical. Thanks for the suggestion, though.**

**~o~**

**Okay, so this chapter wasn't very long, but I have other things to do. It's not one of my bests, so I might make a few changes later, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting on it much longer. I have to go. Blood math homework is waiting to give me a headache. Geronimo!**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	28. I Settle My Tab

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**Right now. This is the next chapter. Thank the gods that I finally got it done!**

**I'm dedicating this chapter to everyone who's affected by dear old Hurricane Sandy. If any of you guys are from any of the affected areas, I hope you're alright! I have a few family members up there in the States and I'm worried for them. I saw a few photos online of the flooding. Someone saw a shark outside their house (Conner, run away!). I know I'm late on it, but I had this up for two weeks without finishing the complete chapter.**

**Song of the chapter: Nicki Minaj – Marilyn Monroe**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**I Settle My Tab**

* * *

**Somewhere, in the distant future…**

Night drew over Olympus. Artemis was driving her chariot as she always did at night. Most of Olympus's occupants were fast asleep; most of them were unbothered by anything that could happen under their noses. But there was one person who hadn't decided to take in some resting time.

The daughter of Chaos was busy at work.

The shadowy corridors were dimly lit by the electrified torches on the walls and only silence echoed at every corner. The gentle breathing of every immortal on Olympus was the only sound Vena heard outside of her head. Inside, there was a faint rambling of voices. They belonged to the humans on the surface of the earth, in the many corners of the world. Vena subconsciously cursed them. She was _tired_ of hearing their constant worries and woes. Sometimes she felt like killing them to shut them up. In death, she didn't have to hear them anymore unless she went to the Underworld. Then she was reminded that her father had forbidden her to exterminate mortals for a century.

The thin fabric of her pale Olga Erteszek's nightgown trailed behind her as she walked cautiously past the throne room to a different hall. Her short auburn-gold hair bounced around her face. She took a staircase to a higher level of the palace and continued walking to the eastern side of the palace. That's when she realized that she was not alone.

"And why are you up this late, _signorina_?" Vena turned her head towards the shadows.

Leaning against the wall was a young man, shrouded in the darkness. He was a few inches taller than her, and dressed completely in a black Italian leather jacket, denim jeans, and a dark gray t-shirt. His black combat boots gleamed in the faint moonlight that glowed through the window. Vena couldn't see his face, but she knew who he was. Besides the obvious fact that she could hear his thoughts, she knew that Italian purr anywhere.

"Working," she said. "And what of you, Nick? I'd thought you'd be with Lazzi now."

"He's sleeping," Nick said, unfolding his arms as he approached her, "As should you be, Vena."

She smiled at him. "As I said, I'm working." She turned away from him and started to walk down the corridor. Nick followed her, obviously interested in what she was doing.

"Where's your wife?" Vena asked. Then she heard his reply before he said it. "Ah, yes, with her sister. Let me guess, they are harassing her husband."

Nick chuckled darkly. The shadows shimmered around him, begging for attention, but he ignored them. "You know the girls, they can't ever resist it," he said. "And what sort of work would you have to do now?"

"Come and see then," Vena said. "I'm only going to the _Hall of the Past_."

"_Hall of the Past_?" Nick's onyx eyes gleamed maniacally. "Oh, this is about _Signorina Mika_, isn't it?"

"Isn't it always?" Vena shook her head fondly. "She's just like her father; always getting herself into a heap of trouble. Always sticking her nose into somewhere it shouldn't be."

Nick chuckled. "And she always dragged Phoenix into her problems," he said. "Her mother doesn't like it at all."

"I should think she wouldn't. Besides, I think Phoenix secretly enjoys it."

"You think or you know?"

"Which do _you_ think?"

Nico shook his head at Vena's manipulation of words. He was long used to it, ever since he was a boy.

They continued walking until they were right outside the golden double doors. Vena waved her hand and it opened for them to enter. Nick took a deep breath as he followed her inside. The _Hall of the Past_ bared the memories he'd long chosen to stop thinking about. To see them again would open old doors. Then again, he was curious as to what Vena was doing. He wasn't going to leave just yet.

The chamber room was long and wide, containing a miniature version of the Trevi Fountain, except the statues were of the Greek gods. The waters glowed a shimmering blue, but as Vena approached it, the glow turned gold. Nick followed her, cautious of the bright light. He almost took out his shades to hide his eyes from the brilliance, but decided against it. It wouldn't really hurt him much.

The golden waters were filled with familiar images to Nick: his childhood memories with his mother Maria and his sister Bianca; of the days he wandered the streets alone, grieving over his sister's death and angry at life itself; of fighting in the Titan war; of meeting Hazel; being trapped in a bronze jar… Nick looked away, allowing the images to pass. Vena looked at him sadly. The fountain automatically showed him a small rerun of his memories. She knew he didn't like it. He steeled himself and looked again into the fountain.

Vena could see that the gold glow hardly added any color to his alabaster pale skin. His black eyes were hard and cold. His black hair was sleek and tame. He looked so much like his father, but only that he was younger. She looked down into the fountain at a more familiar image:

**_"You can't do that, Nico!" the young boy exclaimed. "It'll kill you!"_**

**_"I don't have much of a choice, Albus!" Nico snapped. "It's either you or me! It'd be better if it were me! Harry won't want to lose you!"_**

"I remember this," Vena whispered. "That was a horrible day."

"Yes." Nick's face was remote and cold as ever, but there was a gleam in his eyes. It was a gleam of amusement and pride. "_Certamente_, but it all worked out in the end."

**_A goblet was placed between the two of them. Albus tried to take it up, but Nico was quicker. "You listen to me, Al Potter! This will kill you! I stand a better chance!"_**

**_"I'm one of the Masters, I can handle it!"_**

**_"And I'm telling you, I'm not risking it! I'm already dead being here. One of us has to die. It's sure as hell not going to be you!"_**

Vena turned to look at Nick. "Tell me, di Angelo, how well do you remember that day?"

Nick gazed down at his young self. He had been in his teen years. Many events had happened to him during the Giant War, and there was one part that he truly loathed to think of because it hurt when he was truly and completely alive. In the _Forgotten Days_, he had too much power. On Star, _Mavros Poton_ had calmed his ever-growing powers. If only it had the same affect in other places…

"I remember it well," he whispered, looking at his white, smooth hands. Slowly, without warning, the veins in his palms began to darken. Vena found herself unconsciously backing away from him as wisps of hellfire sparked in his hair. The veins around Nick's eyes darkened like his hands, and for a single moment, he looked far from human, like a dangerous creature radiating of unusual dark, terrifying beauty.

Then in a blink of an eye, it was all gone. Still, there was something under the sleeves of Nick's jacket that hissed a bone-chilling laugh. Vena knew what it was. She was used to it. That didn't stop her from gulping at the sound of something so frightening. That hissing wasn't ordinary. It was very dark, and extremely dangerous.

"I won't hurt you," Nick said, sounding amused. "I won't want to get on dear Apollo's bad side, now would I?"

Vena felt a soft blush creep up her neck. "Ah, Nick di Angelo, the _Vengeance_ that frightens us all. Will you just shut up about him?"

Nick laughed and looked down into the pool. There was a different image there, an old memory that reminded him of the days when life was simple. He only heard four words…

**_"I Settle My Tab…"_**

* * *

**In the modern day; in the kitchen…**

Vena read over the instructions three times before setting up the ingredients on the table. She had to be careful with what she did now. If the potion went wrong, she could end up killing the poor boy. If it was made right, she would postpone his judgment until the day of his choice: to save himself, or to save another…

**~o~**

Nico sat up straighter in his seat. He looked at the title and raised an eyebrow. "**Chapter Twenty One:** **I Settle My Tab**," he read. "What tab?"

Percy frowned. "I think it's referring to my bolt delivery," he said.

"I've never heard that before," George said, trying not to smile.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Boys…" she muttered to herself. "Carry on, Nico."

"Okay then."

**It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality. Chiron had told me that long ago. As usual, I didn't appreciate his wisdom until much later.**

"Why are all youths that way about adults?" Apollo wondered aloud.

"It's a part of growing up," Rachel said, smiling.

**According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.**

"I guess that makes more sense than a god blowing up the place," Neville said, trying not to smile.

"Crazy kidnapper?" Luna asked. "Do they mean Ares?"

Percy and Annabeth grinned. "Oh, yes," Annabeth said with a smirk. "This is how Percy got out of being a criminal."

Percy pouted at her, but stopped when she gave his hand an affectionate squeeze, just to show that she was joking.

**This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares) **[Thalia and George snorted at the off-hand mention of the war god]** was the same man who had abducted me and two other adolescents in New York and brought us across country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.**

Neville involuntarily looked up at the word 'odyssey'. No one else noticed.

"So, that's the story?" Ginny asked. "You were all kidnapped? What happened to the whole criminal angle on you?"

"The Mist," Grover said, like that explained everything—which it did.

**Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. **

"'Poor little Percy Jackson'," Hermione said, trying not to smile. "It doesn't suit you."

Percy looked exasperated, causing Annabeth to choke on her own attempt not to laugh.

**He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus—"Why didn't I remember him before?"). **

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Ron chortled. "Why couldn't the Mist have worked earlier? It could have saved a lot of trouble!"

"Apparently, the Mist only helps with important stuff," Travis said in disgust. "Otherwise it would've helped out that one time I robbed a grocery."

Everyone looked at him. "You robbed a grocery?" Grover asked skeptically.

Conner shrugged. "We were hungry," he defended.

"Why didn't you just _buy_ food?" Rachel asked.

"We were on the run without money," Travis said. "Plus, that was _before_ camp."

Camping, on the run, hungry—Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged dark looks. They knew what that was like without question. The other demigods nodded in understanding. Sometimes, they had had to do that too.

"Children of Hermes, god of thieves," Apollo muttered. "So typical."

"Hey!" the Stoll brothers protested indignantly.

Nico sighed. "Moving on."

**The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that.**

"I've seen others do worse," Hermione said, looking at Ron and Harry.

"What?" they asked innocently.

"Never mind…"

**A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave Percy Jackson (I was beginning to like this kid) **

"And we thought _Ares_ had a big ego," Thalia teased.

Percy blushed. "Very funny, Thalia!"

The others snorted with laughter.

**had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson and his two friends were safely in police custody.**

"I wouldn't have hung around them after all that persecution," Conner said, jutting his chin out.

"They were just trying to help," Hermione pointed out.

"Whatever. I just don't like the police."

Travis grinned. "Especially since we're both juvies," he chuckled.

"Juvies?" Ron asked.

"Juvenile delinquents," Rachel said, shaking her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

The Stolls shrugged.

**The reporters fed us this whole story. We just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted (which wasn't hard), and played victimized kids for the cameras.**

"That wasn't hard," Grover said. "Besides, they gave us food."

Annabeth shook her head fondly. "You and food, Grover," she giggled.

"I was hungry!"

**"All I want," I said, choking back my tears, "is to see my loving stepfather again.**

Everyone snorted with laughter.

"I'm sorry, what?" Harry asked, grinning at Percy's smug expression.

"Wait for it," Percy said, ushering Nico to read. Nico did so, interested in what Percy was going to do.

**Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number."**

Nico cracked up at the end. He wasn't the only one. The laughter in the room almost didn't end.

The Stolls actually slipped off their seats on the ground again, so filled with mirth that they couldn't breathe. Apollo's grin revealed his blinding teeth. Percy was so much like his father. Poseidon would have done that for a laugh, he was sure of it.

"Brilliant!" George cheered. "Oh, that's brilliant!"

"Now you're in trouble," Rachel giggled, shaking her head fondly. Percy really didn't change much over the years when it came to his sense of humor.

"It was worth it," Percy said, grinning. Annabeth wrapped her arm around him for support as she remembered everything he had said that night. It took so much of her concentration and energy not to crack up right there and then. Grover could relate.

It didn't take long for everyone to stop laughing, but the smiles wouldn't fade.

**The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for three tickets on the next plane to New York.**

Percy's grin faltered slight. "I hate planes," he said. "I don't like to fly high."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I love to fly," he said. "And high is always fun."

Hermione shook her head in amusement. "Well, there's a difference between you two now," she said. "Good to know you're not completely alike."

"Oi!"

**I knew there was no choice but to fly. I hoped Zeus would cut me some slack, considering the circumstances. But it was still hard to force myself on board the flight.**

**Takeoff was a nightmare. Every spot of turbulence was scarier than a Greek monster.**

**I didn't unclench my hands from the armrests until we touched down safely at La Guardia. The local press was waiting for us outside security, but we managed to evade them thanks to Annabeth, who lured them away in her invisible Yankees cap, shouting, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!" then rejoined us at baggage claim.**

"I should do that with my cloak sometime," Harry said, shaking his head. "It'll save a lot of trouble."

The wizards snorted at his comment, while the demigods shared bemused glances. A few were sure Harry might have mentioned a cloak before. Others had forgotten.

**We split up at the taxi stand. I told Annabeth and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened. They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all we'd been through, but I knew I had to do this last part of the quest by myself. If things went wrong, if the gods didn't believe me ... I wanted Annabeth and Grover to survive to tell Chiron the truth.**

"Everything turned out for the best, at least," Apollo said cheerfully. "You should have seen Zeus after that. He refused to say sorry to Poseidon. Hera had to coax him to write a letter at least."

Thalia and Percy grinned. Oh, even if they were annoyed with their fathers' rivalry at times, it was entertaining.

**I hopped in a taxi and headed into Manhattan.**

**Thirty minutes later, I walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building.**

**I must have looked like a homeless kid, with my tattered clothes and my scraped-up face. I hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours.**

**I went up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor."**

"That's not going to work," Apollo sighed. "We need to upgrade him. He's getting old. Starting to forget how to tell a mortal from a demigod these days."

"Who is he?" Luna asked.

"He's an automaton, built by Hephaestus. He's programmed to identify those who enter the Empire State Building, and to safeguard the entrance to Olympus. He's supposed to be able to classify what's a monster, a mortal, or a demigod. Even a god. He's starting to lose it."

"He's an automaton?" the demigods asked in disbelief.

Apollo nodded. "Preset to give specific responses when relating to Olympus," Apollo said. "He's been humanized quite a bit, so he can react like one very well; even take on mortal duties. We don't always use him. Sometimes we get real people to work there."

"He reacts like a normal person?" Rachel asked. "Even I didn't see he was a machine."

Apollo smiled. "He's built like that, so even the Mist can't cover anything. One of Hephaestus's clever tricks with the help of Athena."

Ron whispered to Hermione, "What's an auto-matron?"

She smiled. "Automaton," she whispered back. "It means he's a robot."

"Oh."

"That's so weird," Percy said to Annabeth, looked only looked impressed with the craftsmanship.

**He was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front.**

The wizards couldn't help but perk up at the mention of the word.

**I wasn't much into fantasy, but the book must've been good, because the guard took a while to look up. "No such floor, kiddo."**

**"I need an audience with Zeus."**

**He gave me a vacant smile. "Sorry?"**

**"You heard me."**

"So he's programmed to do that?" Percy asked. "So weird."

Apollo shook his head. "Analyzing," he explained. "It takes a while for him to identify the person, so he makes—small talk, I guess, to pass the time."

"I wish he wouldn't," Percy grumbled.

"He's probably looking for a predetermined schedule," Apollo continued, as if Percy hadn't spoken. "He's usually updated on stuff like appointments."

**I was about to decide this guy was just a regular mortal, and I'd better run for it before he called the straitjacket patrol, when he said, "No appointment, no audience, kiddo. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."**

**"Oh, I think he'll make an exception." I slipped off my backpack and unzipped the top.**

**The guard looked inside at the metal cylinder, not getting what it was for a few seconds. Then his face went pale. "That isn't..."**

**"Yes, it is," I promised. "You want me take it out and—"**

**"No! No!" He scrambled out of his seat, fumbled around his desk for a key card, then handed it to me. "Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you."**

"Are you sure he's not human?" Nico asked.

Apollo grinned in amusement. "We could check his wiring later."

"…No thanks, I'm cool."

**I did as he told me. As soon as the elevator doors closed, I slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600.**

**I pressed it and waited, and waited.**

**Muzak played. "****_Raindrops keep falling on my head_****..."**

"I hate that song!" Nico, Conner, and Travis exclaimed, grimacing at the thought of the song.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Because it's annoying!" Nico said angrily. Then his face paled. "I hate you, Percy!"

"Why?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"Because of you, I have that stupid song stuck in my head!" Nico wailed.

Everyone burst out laughing

"It's _not_ funny!"

"Just keep reading, it will fade out," Annabeth giggled.

Nico grumbled to himself in Italian before he started to read again.

**Finally, ding. The doors slid open. I stepped out and almost had a heart attack.**

"I know the feeling," Thalia muttered.

"Yeah, it's amazing up there," Rachel said, not realizing that Thalia had meant the height problem.

**I was standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. Below me was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane.**

Thalia turned pale, but she kept herself calm. She was in a room on the ground, sitting on a couch. She wasn't in the air.

**In front of me, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky. My eyes followed the stairway to its end, where my brain just could not accept what I saw.**

**_Look again_****, my brain said.**

**_We're looking_****, my eyes insisted. ****_It's really there_****.**

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Uh, excuse me?"

Percy blushed. "I was in shock, okay!"

"Your brain is having a conversation with your eyes," Neville said slowly, suppressing a smile. "Well, that's new."

"And the brain is in disbelief," George noted.

"And the eyes are insistent," Ginny added.

"And I'm annoyed. Stop it!" Percy said in embarrassment. Everyone else just laughed.

**From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces—a city of mansions—all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes. I could make out an open-air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new, and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must've looked twenty-five hundred years ago.**

"Actually, it's a bit more modernized, but all the same, it has a great resemblance," Apollo said proudly.

"It sounds magnificent," Ginny said in awe.

"You should see it," Annabeth said. "Well, not now. Recently, it's had a few—damages—but when it's repaired, it will be a masterpiece again."

"What happened to it?" Luna asked.

"Some stuff," Apollo said, trying not to grimace. It had been a horrible homecoming—to see the place in which he had he grown up in ruins. "Anyways, it's on the mend. Nothing to worry about." _Much_…

**This place can't be here, I told myself. The tip of a mountain hanging over New York City like a billion-ton asteroid? How could something like that be anchored above the Empire State Building, in plain sight of millions of people, and not get noticed?**

"The Mist, Percy, the Mist!" Apollo groaned.

"So they see a huge cloud?" Neville asked.

Apollo shook his head. "No, just the sky. Olympus is seated on a special veil vapor made of the Mist to make it invisible."

**But here it was. And here I was.**

**My trip through Olympus was a daze. I passed some giggling wood nymphs who threw olives at me from their garden.**

"Oh, them," Apollo said, smirking. "Nice girls. Great kissers."

"We didn't need to know that," Ginny snapped.

"…Sorry."

**Hawkers in the market offered to sell me ambrosia-on-a-stick, and a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece, as seen on Hephaestus-TV.**

Thalia ignored the subtle glances she got at the mention of the words 'Golden Fleece'.

**The nine muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered—satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers who might've been minor gods and goddesses.**

"What's with the teenager look?" Conner asked.

Apollo shrugged. "We just like it," he said. "Does there have to be a reason?"

"I guess not."

"Good, because I've got nothing."

**Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war. In fact, everybody seemed in a festive mood.**

"That's because a recent report that there was no need to worry was given out prior your arrival," Apollo said. "And it's a good thing too, because I had lots to do and a war would have messed with my schedule."

Everyone stared at him. "What?" he asked.

"…Nothing," everyone replied innocently.

**Several of them turned to watch me pass, and whispered to themselves.**

Harry pursed his lips. He was sick of people doing that with him.

**I climbed the main road, toward the big palace at the peak. It was a reverse copy of the palace in the Underworld.**

**There, everything had been black and bronze. Here, everything glittered white and silver.**

**I realized Hades must've built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn't welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he'd built his own Olympus underground. **

Nico sounded a bit sympathetic for his father as he read those words. His father wasn't really _that_ bad, he had just been mistreated by his family for so many centuries that it was the only thing he could do to others. No one started out bad. They grew into it.

**Despite my bad experience with him, I felt a little sorry for the guy. To be banished from this place seemed really unfair. It would make anybody bitter.**

Apollo frowned. He knew that Hades had hated being banned from Olympus. Before then, he was around quite often, and he had been a whole lot cheerier. Then he got that rivalry with Demeter over Persephone and it all changed.

Harry was strangely reminded of his Aunt Petunia. She had wanted to go to Hogwarts, but since she was a muggle, she wasn't allowed. It made her bitter towards magic. It wasn't the same as Hades's situation, but it had a few similar points.

**Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room.**

**Room really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations.**

**Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left. I didn't have to be told who the two gods were that were sitting there, waiting for me to approach. I came toward them, my legs trembling.**

Nico looked up from the book. "It ends there," he said, "It's time for the video."

Apollo sighed and picked up the remote. "**Book One, Chapter Twenty One, Scene One**."

A title appeared on the screen, captioned: **I Settle My Tab — Scene One — ****_Percy returns the Lightning Bolt_**.

"Oh, we have to see this?" Percy asked. "It's not really exciting."

"Oh hush,_ I_ want to see this," Thalia said eagerly.

o

_Percy nervously entered the room and started walking forward. The scene swirled around to reveal the people he was headed towards: two towering gods, seated in their thrones, standing at least ten feet tall._

_Percy visibly gulped_ [Thalia smirked at the younger version of the son of Poseidon] _and approached ever closer, passed the open and unattended brazier, all the way up to the thrones, looking like a small baby compared to them._

_The clip switched to showing two neat and well-polished black shoes and continued upwards to reveal the pressed, dark blue pinstriped suit that went with it. The man sat on a platinum throne, staring down at the demigod. He was handsome, somewhere in his thirties, with a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His black hair was neatly combed back. Sparks of electricity ran across the top of his head and his rainy eyes narrowed._

o

"There's Pops for you," Apollo said. "Always the dramatic one."

"Thalia, you kind of have the same expression as him when you're angry," Rachel noted.

"So I look grumbly?"

"Pretty much."

"Oh gee, thanks."

o

_The screen turned to show Poseidon._

_He sat back in his throne, both proud and at ease. His feet were crossed, dressed in leather sandals. His skin was deeply tanned, quite a few shades darker than Percy's. He resembled Percy so much that he could have been an older version of him. They had the same black hair and facial features, with the exception that his were more defined and that Poseidon had facial hair. His green eyes had the brooding expression of a troublemaker. He wore khaki Bermuda shorts and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots on it. His left hand was scarred, just as his right; it tapped the armrest of his throne, designed to look like a fisher's chair. His bronze trident was in the holster meant for a fishing rod, and green light flickered around it._

o

"You look a lot like your dad, Percy," Neville said. "It's a little eerie."

"You think _that's_ eerie, you should see what Harry's dad looked like," Ron said. "They could have been twins or something."

Harry glared. "Thank you for putting that out there."

"What? They'd find out anyways." Harry sighed at Ron's response.

"Percy was dressed like that when we first met," Luna noted.

Percy smiled. "Yeah, I was."

"I wouldn't have thought he was a god," Ginny said. "Then again, the same could have been said for Apollo."

"Oi!" Apollo looked very handsome, even when affronted.

o

_Neither of the gods spoke but from the way they behaved, it was obvious that there was a dark tension between them. Poseidon continuously sent Zeus warning looks before gazing down at his son._

o

"I think they had just finished arguing," Percy noted.

"So, everything was normal then?" Thalia asked teasingly.

"I guess…" Percy chuckled. Apollo grinned. That was too true.

o

_Percy walked up to his father's throne and knelt down at his feet. He said, "Father." Poseidon's head tilted slightly as he looked down at his son. Percy wasn't look up, so he didn't notice the tender look his father gave him._

_Zeus raised an eyebrow and glared at his brother before saying, "Should you not address the master of his house first, boy?" His voice was dangerously calm._

_Percy's stared at the floor. He looked close to trembling. Poseidon sighed and sent his brother a stern but reproachful glance. "Peace, brother," he said. _[His voice took stunned a few of the readers who had not heard Poseidon speak before. It reminded them a gentle sound of the ocean, lapping against the shore on cool dawn. It was warm and rich, and unlike the other gods they had heard.]_ "The boy defers to his father. This is only right."_

_Percy closed his eyes briefly and a flashback image appeared, coming as swiftly as it disappeared: the image of a baby bathed in green light, just like the one from Poseidon's trident. Percy's eyes opened as the flashback vanished._

o

"He visited you," Apollo said in surprise. "He's not supposed to do that. Then again, he loves to bend rules for the sake of his children."

Percy blushed as a few of the other demigods sent him envious glances.

o

_Zeus scowled. "You still claim him then?" he demanded in a harsh tone. "You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath?"_

_An echo formed in Poseidon's voice: __**That's rich coming from you, brother. You and that Grace woman... You know what you added to our problems**__._

o

"What's he talking about?" George asked. "Or thinking about?"

Apollo swiftly glanced at Thalia. Now wouldn't be the best time to bring up Jason, so he said, "I'm not sure. It's probably between them alone."

"And my mother," Thalia grumbled. "Grace woman. Grace is my mother's surname. I was born, ex cetera." '_And Jason_,' she added in her head, '_but he's dead_.'

"Oh, that would cause problems for them, I suppose," Hermione agreed. "You weren't supposed to be born. Then again, at that point you weren't alive… That's strange."

Apollo decided not to bring up that the problem was between the Greeks and the Romans. They didn't need to know about that.

Yet, at least.

o

_Instead of saying what he thought aloud, Poseidon said, "I have admitted my wrongdoing. Now I will hear him speak." Another echo came up: __**Oh, I shouldn't have phrased it that way**_.

_Zeus raised an eyebrow at him. Zeus's echo: __**He lies. He wouldn't have been so defensive if he didn't care. A fool could see that.**_

_Meanwhile, Percy was still kneeling on the floor, looking hurt._

o

"Why are we hearing their thoughts?" Hermione asked. "I'm sure Percy didn't hear them."

Apollo frowned. "I don't understand that either," he noted.

o

_"I have spared him once already," Zeus grumbled, leaning back in his throne, "Daring to fly through my domain … pah! I should have blasted him out the sky for his impudence."_

_Poseidon pinched at his shirt. "And risk destroying your own master bolt?" he asked calmly. His eyes however, hardened at his brother's words. "Let us hear him out, brother."_

_Zeus grumbled more, sometimes in English, other times in Greek. "I shall listen. Then I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast this boy down from Olympus."_

o

"Well, there's gratitude for you!" Ron said, looking disgusted. "You accuse him of stealing your bolt, he didn't take it, but he goes to retrieve it anyway and _that's_ what you say? Bloody mental, that one is."

Apollo covered his mouth to conceal his grin. He wasn't in the mood to defend his father, but he had to admit, Ron was right.

o

_Poseidon sighed softly and looked down at his son. "Perseus, look at me."_

_Slowly, Percy raised his head towards his father. The minute he did, Poseidon's face went blank of all emotion, but an echo still revealed his thoughts: __**Oh, my boy. I'm so sorry.**_ **_I would never have condemned this on you. Sally's son… Evil awaits you. I should not have fallen in love with her. You could have avoided what's to come_**_._

_Then he said aloud, "Address Lord Zeus, boy. Tell him your story."_

o

"What's he talking—thinking about?" Hermione asked.

Apollo looked grim. "Percy's future," he said. "You'll know soon enough." His voice didn't make the wizards optimistic, and the demigods scowled at the mention of the war with the Titans.

All the same, Present Percy only thought, '_At least now I understand why he said it_…'

o

_Percy started to say, "Well, I started from the bus…" The scene faded into him saying, "…And then Ares left. I gave Hades's helmet to his furies and I brought the bolt back here."_

o

A caption came up: **The summary of the quest's events were skipped.**

"That makes sense," Travis said. "We saw it once. We don't need to hear it again."

o

_Percy removed the master bolt form the bag. It began to spark as Percy laid it at Zeus's feet. Zeus stared at it for a moment, and all that could be heard was the cracking of the fire in the brazier. Then Zeus stretched out his hand and the bolt flew up into his hands._

o

"Like a broomstick," Harry chortled quietly. The wizards laughed with him. The demigods hadn't heard, so they didn't understand why they were laughing.

o

_The master bolt flared with power and transformed into a twenty-foot long javelin, hissing with so much power that Percy backed away a step or two._

o

"_Daaaaaamn_!" the Stolls said, both intrigued and frightened. Even the wizards had to admit that it was a little scary.

Apollo yawned. Unless that bolt was directed at him or Zeus's fury was high, he was unimpressed; he'd seen his father do that too many times.

o

_"I sense the boy tells the truth," Zeus muttered, pursing his lips. "But that Ares would do such a thing… it is most unlike him."_

_Poseidon tilted his head. "He is proud and impulsive." A faint smirk graced his face. "It runs in the family."_

o

Apollo laughed. "Ain't that the truth? And I would know!"

o

_Percy frowned. He looked up and asked, "Lord?"_

_Both Poseidon and Zeus looked down at him. "Yes?"_ [The readers started snickering. "All the time!" Apollo chuckled, pretending to wipe a tear of mirth from his eye.]

_Percy took a deep breath. "Ares didn't act alone," he said. "Someone else—something else—camp up with the idea."_

o

Another caption appeared: **He described his dreams about Tartarus to Zeus and Poseidon. Summary skipped**.

"This thing's doing a lot of skipping," Grover commented.

"At least we won't have to go over the details again," Ron said. "That's a plus." Hermione, Perce, and Annabeth shook their heads at them. They liked details. Apollo sighed. He was somewhere in between liking and un-liking…

o

_"In the dreams, the voice told me to bring the bolt to the Underworld," Percy said, looking up at his father and his uncle. "Ares hinted that he'd been having dreams, too. I think he was being used, just as I was, to start a war."_

_Zeus's brow furrowed. "You are accusing Hades, after all?" he asked._

_Percy shook his head. "No," he said earnestly. "I mean, Lord Zeus, I've been in the presence of Hades. This feeling on the beach was different. It was the same thing I felt when I got close to the pit. That was the presence of Tartarus, wasn't it? Something powerful and evil is stirring down there…" Percy hesitated before adding, "Something even older than the gods."_

_Poseidon and Zeus exchanged glances._

_Poseidon's echo: __**No, that can't be. Of all people, not him!**_

_Zeus's echo: __**There has to be another option to this. I refuse to believe it's him!**_

o

"Who's 'him'?" Ginny asked. No one answered because the scene didn't stop.

o

_The two brothers started rambling away in Ancient Greek_. [The readers understood their conversation about Kronos, but the wizards were stumped. There were no subtitles.] _Percy frowned. It was obvious that he didn't really understand them either, but at one point, he probably did, because he mouthed a word he translated, and it appeared on the screen in the form of a subtitle._

_Father._

o

"Father?" Hermione asked. "Their father? That would be—would be…" She struggled to remember the name. She knew it had been mentioned before. Then it came to her. "You mean Kronos? I thought he was dead."

Apollo paused the video and hesitated to answer. "You can't really kill an immortal so easily," he said slowly. "For an immortal to truly die, they have to fade. Otherwise, they simply exist with no meaning. They're just there with only their thoughts. Grandfather Kronos was chopped up in pieces, but his mind was intact. You can imagine what he would think of in his 'death time'."

"Um, that was easily?" Conner asked uncertainly. "Are you kidding me?"

Apollo huffed. "Hey, I didn't kill him! That was Dad! Anyways, Kronos was still in Tartarus, alive in a horrible form."

"The voice came from the pit," Harry said, thinking about Percy's dreams. "The pit being Tartarus… Tartarus being the prison that Kronos resides…"

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you, Harry?" Hermione asked, running along the same lines as him.

"Are _you_?"

"Of course!"

"Then, that's _exactly_ what I'm thinking."

Ron looked back and forth between them. He felt a bit left out of the conversation, but he understood where they were going; as did the other wizards. He was the first one to say what they all were thinking.

"It's Kronos, isn't it?" He looked towards Percy for an answer. "It's their father."

Percy glanced at Annabeth, who nodded her head. He took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, it is. He tried to create a war."

War. That word didn't settle well with anyone. Everyone had just been through a war that left them tired and heartbroken. Suddenly, reading about it didn't seem like a good idea anymore, but no one bothered to voice it.

Hermione thought about it. "The only reason he would start a war would be for vengeance," she decided. "What else would there be?"

Apollo thought about it. "He was bored?" he suggested. Everyone looked at him and he blushed. "Sorry, not helping. But you are correct, Hermione. After all, being chopped up by your own kids and being thrown into a pit can do that to a person."

Harry frowned. "At least it's making sense now," he said. "For a while, I was a bit confused."

"Me too," Ginny agreed. "The question is now, who stole the bolt. It couldn't have been Kronos. He's in a pit."

"And who would work for him," Neville added.

Luna had long put together the clues to this puzzle: a name that started with L, plus, Ares term of 'errands' reminded her of the messenger god, Hermes, and a few other hints, made her certain that it was Luke, Hermes's son. However, she didn't have any motive explanations. The others would learn in time. She wanted to learn that _with_ them.

"I guess we'll find out," Perce decided. He frowned. "Isn't it odd that it's your grandfather doing all of this?"

George snorted. "He's not very grandfatherly, now is he?"

Conner frowned. "Wait, Kronos is Dad's grandfather," he said slowly. "That makes him my great-grandfather… Oh, as if this family tree wasn't screwed up enough!"

Travis raised an eyebrow. "You're _now_ figuring this out?" he asked in surprise. "Where've you _been_ all this time?"

Conner scowled at him. It was hard for the others not to laugh at his comical expression. "I never looked at it _that_ way," he snapped. "It's too weird."

"I know. Just don't think about. That's what I do," Percy said.

Apollo yawned. "Can I continue? It's starting to get boring in here."

Thalia rolled her eyes. It was no wonder that Artemis was always annoyed with her younger brother. "Fine, go ahead," she said, before anyone else could retort.

o

_Poseidon looked away from Zeus for a moment. He turned back and opened his mouth to say something, but Zeus shook his head at him. Poseidon, slightly affronted, tried again, but this time Zeus held up his hand to stop him, apparently angry that he was trying to disobey._

_Poseidon looked like wanted douse his brother with water, but he huffed slightly and looked away from him. _[Thalia and Percy chuckled at their fathers' interaction. They couldn't deny that they were like that too.]

_"We will speak of this no more," Zeus said. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal."_

o

"Human taint?" Ginny asked.

Apollo sighed. "That's Dad for you. Frankly, he doesn't mind human taint from mortal women during—"

"_Don't_ you finish that sentence!"

"Thalia, you sound just like my sister!"

"I _am_ your sister!"

"Half-sister!"

"Ugh, stop it!" Nico complained. "You're _hurting_ my ears." Surprisingly, that got them to stop.

o

_Zeus rose up from his throne, towering over Percy, who looked like a bug next to him. Zeus looked down at him, not as angry as before. "You have done me a service, boy. Few heroes could have accomplished as much."_

_Percy looked a bit relieved. "I had help, sir," he said. "Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase—"_

_Zeus interrupted him: "To show you my thanks, I shall spare your life. I do not trust you, Perseus Jackson. I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live."_

o

"So, no trophy or anything, like that?" George asked jokingly. Ginny nudged him in the ribs.

o

_Percy took a deep breath. "Um… thank you, sir."_

_Zeus's eyes hardened by a small fraction. "Do not presume to fly again. Do not let me find you here when I return. Otherwise, you shall taste this bolt. And it shall be your last sensation."_

_On his last word, the room darkened as thunder rumbled and shook the palace walls! The clip cut to a different scene. Outside the palace, the minor gods and goddess were chatting away. The walls trembled around them, but they didn't seem to notice. They just held on to anything sturdy near them and continued their conversations and joking._

o

"They are very used to this," Apollo explained. "It happens every week."

o

_The clip cut back to the throne room. Zeus's outline glowed, and in a blinding flash of light that caused Percy to shield his eyes, Zeus dematerialized in lightning, leaving Percy alone with his father._

o

"So theatrical," Apollo murmured. "Unfortunately, all his children inherit a small degree of that…"

o

_Poseidon glanced at the spot where his brother had stood on and sighed. "Your uncle has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theater."_

o

Everyone laughed during the short silence on the screen.

"Agreed," Apollo chuckled.

o

_Percy shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Sir, what was in the pit," he asked._

_Poseidon regarded his son, but an echo revealed his thoughts: __**Why do my children always say 'sir'? Why not father? I never called my father 'sir'**__._ [A few readers snorted. Percy blushed.] _Then he said, "Have you not guessed?"_

_Percy didn't hesitate to answer. "Kronos," he said. "The king of the Titans."_

_At the mention of Kronos's name, the hearth behind Percy dimmed. The room seemed darker. Percy shivered slightly and Poseidon gripped on his bronze trident for reassurance._

_"In the First War, Percy, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos," Poseidon said._

_As he spoke, a clear image came up on the screen: _**A towering man in bloodied armor trying to attack a very young-looking, beardless Zeus, also bloodied for battle. With a defiant cry that cast lightning across the sky, Zeus wrestled the scythe from his opponent's hands and ran it through his body.**

o

"Ouch!" everyone yelped, wincing as if the blade had cut them instead of Kronos.

"Oh, I didn't need to see that," Travis said, watching the blood spout out of Kronos like a fountain.

o

_The scene changed as Poseidon spoke, as if he were only commentary. "Zeus cast Kronos's remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus." _

_The scene: _**Bloody limps were tossed into the pit of Tartarus by three people; Zeus and two other young men, both resembling the older Poseidon and Hades from the brief shots shown**.

_"The Titan army was scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna destroyed, their monstrous allies driven to the farthest corners of the earth."_

_The scene: _**Titans feeling from a crumbling black palace; horrific monsters racing away from their allies for safety**.

_"And yet, Titans cannot die, any more than we gods can." The clip refocused to Poseidon and Percy in the throne room again. "Whatever is left of Kronos is still alive in some hideous way, still conscious in eternal pain, still hungering for power."_

o

Harry's expression hardened. Those last words could have described Voldemort before his return: alive in a hideous form; a living consciousness that was unable to die; still hungering for power and revenge. They described Voldemort exactly. He had to remind himself that Voldemort was dead. He didn't have to worry about him anymore.

o

_Percy said, "He's healing. He's coming back."_

_Poseidon shook his head. "From time to time, over the eons, Kronos has stirred," he said. "He enters men's nightmares and breathes evil thoughts. He wakens restless monsters from the depths. But to suggest he could rise from the pit is another thing."_

_"That's what he intends, Father," he insisted. "That's what he said."_

_Poseidon stared at his son. An echo said: __**We've all ignored this for so long… If the prophecy is yours, then your fate is as tragic as so many other good heroes. If my father is the cause of your demise, then I have mercy on you**__. __**The Fates would have my head, were I to tell you the truth.**_

o

"A prophecy," Harry breathed. "Why is it always a prophecy?"

Percy heard him. "You have a bad one, too?"

"Yes," Harry said, frowning. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

"I'm not in the mood to talk about mine, either."

Hermione pursed her lips. "He says you're going to die," she pointed out. "But you're not dead."

Percy shrugged. "All heroes die eventually," he said. "I just hope to live passed twenty years."

The other demigods agreed with him.

o

_Poseidon sighed. "Lord Zeus has closed discussion on this matter," he said, sounding slightly annoyed by that fact. "He will not allow talk of Kronos. You have completely your quest, child._ _That is all you need to do."_

_"But—!" Percy looked like he wanted to argue, but then he closed his mouth, looking frustrated with himself. _[The readers smirked at his obvious temptation to say something.] _He finally managed to say, "As…as you wish, Father." It was obvious that he hadn't really wanted to say that._

_Poseidon looked amused as well. "Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?" he asked._

_Percy looked sheepish. "No…sir." _[Annabeth, Thalia, and Rachel grinned the most.]

_The corners of Poseidon's lips turned up. "I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained," he said. He took up his trident and rose to full height. Percy backed away from his twenty-foot tall father. Poseidon's entire form shimmered in a faint whirlpool of water until he shrank into a regular sized man in front of his son, standing only a few feet taller than him now._

o

"Cool," Ron muttered. He looked at Apollo. "Can you do that?"

"Not with water," Apollo said. "I prefer light."

o

_Poseidon leaned against his trident like it was a staff. "You must go, child," he said. "But first, know that your mother has returned."_

o

"What?" the wizards exclaimed.

"How—?" Ginny started, but Percy cut her off.

"Wait for it," he said.

o

_Past Percy stared at his father in disbelief. "My mother?" he asked._

_"You will find her at home. Hades sent her when you recovered his helm. Even the Lord of Death pays his debts." Poseidon smiled faintly. An echo said: __**He never did like owing anyone anything. His pride rivals Zeus more than mine**__._

o

"Hades gave your mother back," Hermione said in awe. "Well, that was honorable."

"He didn't need her anymore, I suppose," Nico said. "She wasn't dead, after all. And the reason he took her was resolved. It was best to give her back to the world of the living."

"I would have thought that she'd still be there," Ron said. "Hades didn't strike me as honorable."

Nico sighed. "Yeah, he gets that a lot," he muttered.

"So that's how she's still alive," Harry said, smiling. "You said she married a man named Paul. She'd have to be alive for that."

"Yeah, and he's much better than Gabe," Percy said, beaming.

"Anyone would be better than Gabe," Ginny said, "Well, unless they're like him already."

"Agreed," most of them muttered.

o

_The expression of joy on Percy's face was radiant. "Do you… would you…" he stuttered before shutting his mouth in embarrassment. An echo for him came up: __**Yeah, uh, no… You can't just load the God of the Sea into a taxi and take him to the Upper East Side. If he wanted to see my mom all these years, he would have. And then there's Smelly Gabe to think about….**_

_Poseidon gazed at his son sadly, as if he knew what he was thinking. "When you return home, Percy," he said, "you must make an important choice. You will find a package waiting in your room."_

o

The readers looked a little confused, but Percy didn't volunteer any explanation. Even a few of his friends looked confused.

o

_Past Percy looked confused. "A package?" he asked uncertainly._

_Poseidon said, "You will understand when you see it. No one can choose your path, Percy. You must decide."_

_Percy nodded, _[though it was clear to the readers he had no clue what Poseidon meant. The Stolls snickered.]

_Poseidon gazed past Percy towards the ceiling for a brief moment. He looked wistful. "Your mother is a queen among women," he said. "I had not met such a mortal woman in a thousand years. Still…." His eyes saddened. "I am sorry you were born, child. I have brought you a hero's fate, and a hero's fate is never happy. It is never anything but tragic."_

_Percy's eyes shone with hurt._

o

"Ouch," Ron commented, grimacing. "I'd hate to hear that from my dad."

Apollo sighed. "I see where Percy got his tact from," he muttered. "But he didn't mean that he didn't want his son, I'm sure of that."

"Then what did he mean?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't you hear his thoughts before?"

"…_Oh_!"

o

_Percy said, "I don't mind, Father."_

_Poseidon didn't seem to realize that he had hurt his son's feelings. "Not yet, perhaps," he said. "Not yet. But it was an unforgiveable mistake on my part."_

o

"Will he shut up?!" Thalia snapped. "He's making it worse!"

"It's fine, Thalia," Percy said reassuringly. "I understand what he meant by that now."

o

_"I'll leave you then." Percy bowed awkwardly. He didn't look like he was going to cry, but he sure looked like he wanted to leave. "I—I won't bother you again."_

_He turned to leave and Poseidon looked stricken. An echo: __**Damn, Athena was right. I need to work on my wording…**_

o

"Oh, you _think_!" Rachel said in an obvious tone. The Stolls and George snorted.

o

_Percy hadn't even taken a few steps away when Poseidon said, "Perseus." Percy turned around to look at Poseidon. A fierce pride shone in Poseidon's eyes. "You did well, Perseus. Do no misunderstand me. Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God."_

_He dissolved into water and vanished, leaving Percy alone. Percy turned back around, and in a daze, he walked out of the throne room. The screen turned black._

o

"Okay, so do we read now again?" George asked.

Apollo frowned. "I don't think so," he muttered. "There are two more minutes."

o

_The black screen reverted back to color. There was a balcony before them, simple and made of white marble. It overlooked Manhattan. The very edge of the balcony dropped into the city._

_The scary part was that there was a girl sitting there._

o

"What's this?" Percy asked, frowning. "I never saw this."

No one, not even Apollo, knew what to say.

o

_Water materialized into the room, taking the form of Poseidon without his trident. He immediately saw the girl before him and sighed._

_"I should have known you were here," he sighed. "Were you conferring with the Fates again?"_

_The girl giggled. "Oh, no, Poseidon," she said, with a light Greek accent. "I think you know exactly why I'm here."_

o

Apollo froze. That was Vena's voice.

'_Oh, you've got to be kidding me_,' he thought to himself.

Vena giggled in his head. '_No, you're not_,' she responded slyly.

'_You go to visit Poseidon, but not _me_?_'

'_Of all things for you to stick on_…'

"Who is that?" Annabeth asked. "I don't recognize her."

"That's because you don't know her," Apollo replied, still miffed with Vena. How could she go visit his uncle and not stop by to say hi to _him_?

"Who is she?" Annabeth asked again.

"I'm not answering that," Apollo said. "Now's not the time."

"Why not?" Apollo refused to answer her and stared at the screen. Everyone else watched too, still wondering who the girl was. Annabeth was offended that she was being ignored.

o

_Poseidon came to stand by her. Her face was in the shadows. The readers couldn't see her face. "I take it that he's drawn you're attention?" he asked._

_"Since the day he was born." She turned to look at Poseidon. Only her smile could be seen. "You know who he is now. There are two sides of the coin. Tragedy and hope... Which would you wish upon him?"_

_Poseidon looked at her. "You know that answer already."_

_"I want to hear you say it."_

_Poseidon hesitated. "Hope," he said, after a moment of silence._

_Her smile widened. "Then he will live in suffering and survival, but in the end it would be worth it. Unlike Heracles. He got a boring, drawn out life, didn't he?"_

o

"What's she talking about?" Ginny asked. Apollo didn't answer.

Percy didn't really like what she was saying about him.

o

_Poseidon sighed. "You'll make his life a living hell," he groaned. "I see why Hades likes you."_

_She huffed. "Oh, don't sell me short, Doni," she said coolly. "A good life does not come easily. Nemesis would agree. It's my job to be difficult. Why do you think I drive Apollo up a wall?"_

o

Apollo huffed as he folded his arms. The readers, despite being frustrated with him, found that amusing.

"You're still not saying who she is?" Travis asked.

"Nope."

o

_Poseidon stared out into Manhattan. "Perseus Jackson," he muttered. "You know what will happen to him?"_

_She nodded and took a deep breath. "Further than the Fates' eyes," she muttered. "There are so many outcomes for him, but one is certainly clear if the next war goes in his favor. Worlds will collide. He will be needed as a guide and as a leader. He will rise higher than any hero before him. His name will be legend. He will be one of the seven to change our world. His name will be as sacred as yours. He will be your pride and joy." Her smile faded. "But one day, he will fall. His heart will break at the hands of the High Architect. It will destroy him utterly inside and it would take great power to heal him. And when that happens, be ready for a new world. The time of the Silver Age will end. The Prophecy of the White will be at hand. I think you know what that means, Poseidon."_

_He stared at her in shock. "He's linked?"_

_The girl smiled sadly and nodded. "Don't regret his birth," she said. "His existence was written in the time of Old, on the scrolls of my father's most ancient library. He was destined for this. There would have been nothing to prevent it. No prophecy and no rule would have kept him away. Everything happens for a reason. You can't change his purpose. His has started on his path, even now. And this is something you can't ever tell him."_

_Poseidon's expression was pained. "What should I do, then?"_

_She put her hand on his. "Be a good father," she said, before dissolving into the shadows, leaving Poseidon alone on the balcony._

o

The scene ended.

Everyone was silent. No one said anything. Apollo's eyes narrowed. '_I guess you haven't told me everything_,' he thought. Vena didn't answer him. He knew what that meant. Even that amount of information was scarce.

Everyone stared at Percy. The son of the sea god had gone every pale. He stared at the blank screen in disbelief. Her words were running through his head.

"I want to know who she was," Annabeth demanded. "How does she know all this?"

Apollo shook her head. "I can't say," he said. "It's not in the job description."

"You're a god, you can do anything you want," Annabeth countered.

Apollo grimaced. "Not anything," he said. "Not here. I'm out of my jurisdiction. I have to follow someone else's rules. And I can't tell you who that is, either," he added, when he realized that Annabeth was going to pester him some more.

"Well, that's completely unhelpful," Nico grumbled. "I guess you can't tell us what she meant either." Apollo's expression answered him well enough.

"I'm not sure I like her," Percy said. "I don't like people who play with my life."

"She's not playing with your life, she's structuring it," Apollo said. "I can't explain it. She does it to everyone, even the gods. Don't take it personally. It's her job."

"A lousy job, that is," Ron said.

Apollo sighed. His usually cheerful nature had dimmed into someone more serious and grim. "It's not for fun," he said. "Well, most of the time. Life needs a balance. She just helps every now and then. Usually, it's the other gods who really play with you."

"Well, I take it she's not Nemesis," Annabeth decided. "She spoke of her. She can't be Tyche. She likes difficulty…" She pondered on to herself about a list of immortals that the woman would be. Hermione would have done the same, except her knowledge on Greek myths were limited. She had never taken an interest before, and now she was regretting it.

"You're wasting your time," Apollo said, glancing at Rachel. She sighed at his effort to be tactful to the girl. "Honestly, how difficult could it be for you to wait? You can't know everything at once."

'_Children of Athena_,' Vena's voice sounded in his head. '_They always think they should know everything_.'

'_Doesn't that just annoy you?_'

'_All the time_.'

"What do you think she meant when she said I'd fall?" Percy asked Annabeth. "Frankly, I don't think I want to fall. I don't think I want to go high up either. Less risk of falling, I'd say."

Thalia glowered at him. She didn't like the idea of falling from a height, even if it wasn't literal.

Annabeth sighed. "I don't know," she grumbled. She jabbed her thumb at Apollo. "He's being unhelpful and she made no sense."

Apollo folded his arms. "You're lucky I'm forbidden to hurt you," he grumbled to himself, but they all heard him anyways.

Annabeth glared and thought about what that woman had said. _His heart will break at the hands of the High Architect_. When she heard those works, her blood had gone cold. She wasn't exactly a high architect, but she _was_ the Architect of Olympus. She couldn't have meant _her_, could she? Annabeth couldn't imagine breaking Percy's heart. She loved him too much for that. _Worlds will collide_. She might have been referring to the Wizarding world. That would make sense. Annabeth had a feeling that there was something else as well. _The Silver Age will end_. That was the time of the gods. It was basic knowledge. It didn't sound so good to Annabeth. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. It drove her crazy.

'_Just be patient, girl_,' a voice said in her head. Annabeth almost jumped. That was the woman's voice! She caught Apollo's eye; he has a small smirk on his lips. It started to dawn on Annabeth that it could have been the very same woman with whom Apollo always communicated here.

Percy tapped his foot on the ground. "She said my life would be this way because my father wanted hope for me," he grumbled. "If this is hope, then what would tragedy be?"

"Worse?" Nico guessed.

Percy groaned. "You know what? I think I'll stick with hope."

Harry said, "Well, at you know your dad cares."

"Yeah, good to know, but that's not really helping at the moment," Percy said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch. Grover could tell he was upset and clapped his shoulder.

Rachel sighed. "Listen, nothing too bad has happened yet—leaving out the past," she added, when he saw Percy's expression. "Just calm down. You're still safe and everything."

"How do I know you're not just saying that?"

"Well… You don't." She sat forward. "Hey, now, let's not over-react to anything," she pointed out. "We're learning about each other here; and maybe that will help with the future. Let's not stick on this, okay? I'm sure it'll make sense one day."

Perce looked at her. "She makes herself a point," he said after a moment. "It is ill-advised to learn of knowledge before its time. It can lead to many errors that could have been avoided in the first place."

"Or, it can prevent them," Thalia pointed out. She glanced at Apollo and raised her eyebrow. "And just what do you think you're doing?"

Everyone turned to look at Apollo, who gazed back at them with an innocent expression. Apparently, the Sun God had summoned up a magazine, _Car_, and had started to flip through the pages as they talked.

"Oh, you're talking to me?" he asked, looking over the top of his magazine.

"Now's not the time for that," Hermione said.

Apollo shrugged. "I need a new look for the Sun chariot," he said. "I figured since you're not bothering to listen to me, I might as well do something productive." He turned the page around and looked at Nico. "You're half-Italian. What'd you think of this? A line-up of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti."

Nico tilted his head. "I like the black ones."

Apollo looked at them. "Me too, but I'm looking at the silver more…"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Men and cars," she grumbled. She snapped her fingers loudly, "Hey, the both of you! Now is not the time!"

Apollo sighed. "Okay, how about this," he said. "Wait until we're done the book, and then talk about all this."

"How do we know you'd keep your word on that?" Annabeth asked.

Apollo smiled. "I don't really have a choice." '_Besides, Vena wants to meet you when you're done with this book. You can just harass her._'

In the background, he heard Vena mutter, '_Oh, gee, thanks_…'

They all considered it for a while. "I guess so," Ginny said. "I think Nico's getting a bit tired of just holding the book."

Everyone glanced at the son of Hades. He grinned. "Oh, so you've noticed?"

**~o~**

Vena stirred the potion in the kitchens. The liquid was light red, bubbling with the scent of pomegranate. Vena looked at the ingredients. She had done what was needed, but now she had to add something new, let this stew for a day, and then start the process again tomorrow, and then the day after that. The potion would be ready by then.

"I hope he doesn't mind," Vena muttered to herself. "But this is necessary…"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out three vials of golden liquid. She put two away and concentrated on the vial in her hand. Slowly, it turned pink, and then rose-red, and then finally, wine-red. Vena uncorked the vial and poured the liquid into the potion.

The light red potion frothed and bubbled, toiling with danger and trouble. The drops from the vial bled into the untouched portions of the potion until it was a light shade of blood red.

"_Énas_," she muttered softly. A slight twinge of regret pounded in her heart. She felt sorry for Nico. His future was like shattered glass under a muggle's hand. The pieces would never join together again.

**~o~**

"So, do we agree then?" Hermione asked. "Read first, talk later?"

Travis raised his hand. "I vote reading. I'm getting bored over here!"

"Hear, hear," Ron and George said together. Conner was starting to fall asleep. Luna was staring at her shoes, as if they were more interesting, but then again, she could have just been staring at them. No one really knew what was going on in her head.

"Fine," Annabeth said. She was still upset that she hadn't gotten to know what she wanted.

Percy had pushed the thoughts out of his head. They were still bugging him, but he decided he didn't have to worry about them immediately, but they nagged him like a fussy old lady with a lot of cats.

"So I can read now?" Nico asked, waving the book around. It almost hit Thalia in the face.

"Yeah, and keep it over there," she snapped, shoving him closer to Rachel so it wouldn't hit her.

He rolled his eyes and searched for the right page. Travis poked Conner awake.

**As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. **

**People and satyrs and naiads all turned toward me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt, as if I were some kind of hero.**

"Is something wrong with that?" Conner asked. It felt weird for him to speak after a long silence and a good nap.

"I wasn't used to it," Percy said. "Actually, I'm still not used to it."

**Fifteen minutes later, still in a trance, I was back on the streets of Manhattan.**

**I caught a taxi to my mom's apartment, rang the doorbell, and there she was—my beautiful mother, smelling of peppermint and licorice, the weariness and worry evaporating from her face as soon as she saw me.**

**"Percy! Oh, thank goodness. Oh, my baby."**

Percy's neck felt hotter as a few people smirked. '_I'm not a baby, Mom!_' he thought to himself.

**She crushed the air right out of me. We stood in the hallway as she cried and ran her hands through my hair.**

**I'll admit it—my eyes were a little misty, too. I was shaking. I was so relieved to see her.**

Everyone smiled while Percy continued to blush. Apollo flipped through another page of his magazine.

**She told me she'd just appeared at the apartment that morning, scaring Gabe half out of his wits.**

"He has _wits_?" George asked, perplexed. Ginny giggled and shook her head.

**She didn't remember anything since the Minotaur, and couldn't believe it when Gabe told her I was a wanted criminal, traveling across the country, blowing up national monuments. She'd been going out of her mind with worry all day because she hadn't heard the news. Gabe had forced her to go into work, saying she had a month's salary to make up and she'd better get started.**

"Why doesn't that lazy git get off his backside and do some work for himself?" Ginny asked angrily. "Good-for-nothing, useless waste of space he is! And you know what—?!"

Neville clapped his hand over her mouth, sure that she was going to say something nasty. "Nico, just continue," he said, ignoring her glare. Nico chuckled.

**I swallowed back my anger and told her my own story. I tried to make it sound less scary than it had been, but that wasn't easy. I was just getting to the fight with Ares when Gabe's voice interrupted from the living room. "Hey, Sally! That meat loaf done yet or what?"**

Everyone glowered at the book. Apollo stared at a certain spot on his magazine, trying not to glare. Nico thought it might combust at any second.

**She closed her eyes. "He isn't going to be happy to see you, Percy. The store got half a million phone calls today from Los Angeles ... something about free appliances."**

Everyone perked up at the little reminder of what Percy had done. It was still amusing.

**"Oh, yeah. About that..."**

**She managed a weak smile. "Just don't make him angrier, all right? Come on."**

**In the month I'd been gone, the apartment had turned into Gabeland. Garbage was ankle deep on the carpet. The sofa had been reupholstered in beer cans. Dirty socks and underwear hung off the lampshades.**

"Sort of reminds me of what Mundungus's place might look like," George said after a thought.

"Dung has a place?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Nope, but I'm sure it would look like that," George said dismissively.

**Gabe and three of his big goony friends were playing poker at the table. When Gabe saw me his cigar dropped out of his mouth. His face got redder than lava. "You got nerve coming here, you little punk. I thought the police—"**

**"He's not a fugitive after all," my mom interjected. "Isn't that wonderful, Gabe?"**

**Gabe looked back and forth between us. He didn't seem to think my homecoming was so wonderful.**

"It's no picnic seeing you either," Percy grumbled.

**"Bad enough I had to give back your life insurance money, Sally," he growled. "Get me the phone. I'll call the cops."**

**"Gabe, no!"**

**He raised his eyebrows. "Did you just say 'no'? You think I'm gonna put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro."**

**"But—"**

**He raised his hand, and my mother flinched.**

**For the first time, I realized something. Gabe had hit my mother.**

Nico faltered over the words. The idea that Sally got hit by that guy was unsettling. She never deserved something like that. Apollo looked up from his magazine.

"Excuse me?" half the room exclaimed.

"How dare he!" Rachel hissed angrily.

"This is just like the house-elves!" Hermione exclaimed. "Forced to do hard labor and they're abused, like their animals, not people!"

Ron muttered to Harry, "Should we stop her?"

Harry pursed his lips. He was between anger and sympathy. The Dursleys hadn't exactly left him unscathed in his childhood. "I think it's better than the alternative," he muttered back, eyeing everyone else. Everyone looked upset, even Apollo, though he did a good job at masking it. Ginny looked ready to hex Gabe with five rounds of Bat-Bogies.

"Typical men," Thalia spat. She eyed the other guys and said, "Well, not you. But men like _that!_ Thinking they're the kings of the world, and treating women like they machines to be used at will; as if they don't exist to do anything else but please them!"

"Please tell me she kicks him out," Ginny said, staring at Percy.

He smiled. "Actually, she does worse," he said. "But he deserved it. Just wait and see."

It was obvious that he wasn't going to say what it was, but the idea that Gabe got what he deserved almost eased them. To the wizards, it hadn't occurred to them that Gabe had died. The Stolls only ever knew of Paul, so they were in the dark, as was Thalia, but Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Nico, and Apollo knew that Gabe went to Punishment. Nico, internally fuming over what he had just read, started reading again, hoping to see if it was in the chapter. He had a feeling it wasn't, but one could dream.

**I didn't know when, or how much. But I was sure he'd done it. Maybe it had been going on for years, when I wasn't around.**

**A balloon of anger started expanding in my chest. I came toward Gabe, instinctively taking my pen out of my pocket.**

"That won't work," Travis said. "I'd use one of the bottles from the ground."

"Travis!"

"What, Rachel? It would actually do something!"

**He just laughed. "What, punk? You gonna write on me? You touch me, and you are going to jail forever, you understand?"**

**"Hey, Gabe," his friend Eddie interrupted. "He's just a kid."**

**Gabe looked at him resentfully and mimicked in a falsetto voice: "Just a kid."**

**His other friends laughed like idiots.**

Everyone glared at the book. Nico felt like recoiling. It almost felt like the glares were directed at him. He just ignored them and continued reading.

**"I'll be nice to you, punk." Gabe showed me his tobacco-stained teeth. "I'll give you five minutes to get your stuff and clear out. After that, I call the police."**

**"Gabe!" my mother pleaded.**

**"He ran away," Gabe told her. "Let him stay gone."**

**I was itching to uncap Riptide, but even if I did, the blade wouldn't hurt humans. And Gabe, by the loosest definition, was human.**

"Who on earth were his parents?" Hermione asked with disgust. "They raised a horrible creature!"

Ron whispered to Harry, "Do you think he's related to Umbridge?" Harry snorted.

**My mother took my arm. "Please, Percy. Come on. We'll go to your room."**

**I let her pull me away, my hands still trembling with rage.**

**My room had been completely filled with Gabe's junk. I here were stacks of used car batteries, a rotting bouquet of sympathy flowers with a card from somebody who'd seen his Barbara Walters interview.**

"People fell for that?" Conner asked.

"Hey, no one said all mortals were very bright," his brother said with a shrug.

**"Gabe is just upset, honey," my mother told me. "I'll talk to him later. I'm sure it will work out."**

**"Mom, it'll never work out. Not as long as Gabe's here."**

**She wrung her hands nervously. "I can ... I'll take you to work with me for the rest of the summer. In the fall, maybe there's another boarding school—"**

**"Mom."**

**She lowered her eyes. "I'm trying, Percy. I just... I need some time."**

**A package appeared on my bed. At least, I could've sworn it hadn't been there a moment before.**

"Where'd that come from?" Neville asked, confused.

"It'll be explained in a minute," Percy replied.

**It was a battered cardboard box about the right size to fit a basketball. The address on the mailing slip was in my own handwriting:**

**The Gods**

**Mount Olympus**

**600th Floor,**

**Empire State Building**

**New York, NY**

**With best wishes,**

**PERCY JACKSON**

**Over the top in black marker, in a man's clear, bold print, was the address of our apartment, and the words: RETURN TO SENDER.**

Apollo smirked from behind his magazine. He turned the page to look at more cars.

"Wait," Neville said, before anyone else could. "Isn't that the same box you sent to the gods? With Medusa's head?"

"Yep."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Oh, Merlin," she muttered. "That's what Poseidon sent for you?"

Percy nodded. Harry said, "But why—hey, wait!" He stared at Percy with wide eyes. "You're not going to do what I think you're going to do? Are you?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?"

"I think you're going to put Medusa's head near Gabe," Harry replied.

Percy grinned. "No, I'm not," he said confidently.

"But you were thinking it."

"Of course, I was."

Ron raised his hands. "Hold on, a minute," he interrupted. "You're going to turn Gabe into a statue?"

Conner and Travis looked up slyly. "Brilliant!" they said, smirking.

"Not so brilliant!" Hermione looked at Percy in disbelief. "That would be murder!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything," he said.

"Yeah, and it'd be Medusa, not him," Travis pointed out. "He'd just put it down and Gabe will come across it… Total accident."

Hermione stared at him. "It'd still be murder," she pointed out.

"Not really," Nico said. "He's just turn to stone. Murder would be taking a knife and jabbing it in his heart."

"Or beheading him," Conner added.

"Maybe pushing him off a building," Travis said in an after-thought.

"Or force-feeding him poison," Thalia added innocently.

Ginny stared. "You guys kill a lot, don't you?"

Annabeth sighed. "Only monsters," she said. "And you guys," she shot her friends a stern look, "Shut it. You're not exactly making yourselves decent-minded."

"Who'd want to be decent-minded?" Travis asked. Annabeth glared. "Sorry."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'm reading now, in case you all start talking about a new kind of nonsense," he said, looking for the last line he read while the Stolls and Annabeth shot a glare at him.

**Suddenly I understood what Poseidon had told me on Olympus.**

**A package. A decision.**

**_Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God._**

**I looked at my mother. "Mom, do you want Gabe gone?"**

**"Percy, it isn't that simple. I—"**

**"Mom, just tell me. That jerk has been hitting you. Do you want him gone or not?"**

**She hesitated, then nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yes, Percy. I do. And I'm trying to get up my courage to tell him. But you can't do this for me. You can't solve my problems."**

**I looked at the box.**

"I suppose you're thinking otherwise," George said.

**I could solve her problem. I wanted to slice that package open, plop it on the poker table, and take out what was inside. I could start my very own statue garden, right there in the living room.**

**That's what a Greek hero would do in the stories, I thought. That's what Gabe deserves.**

**But a hero's story always ended in tragedy. Poseidon had told me that.**

The demigods looked a bit sad as they remembered all of their friends who had died. That had been pure tragedy right there. Even the wizards thought of their lost ones. They had all died heroes. Heroes had tragic ends.

**I remembered the Underworld. I thought about Gabe's spirit drifting forever in the Fields of Asphodel, or condemned to some hideous torture behind the barbed wire of the Fields of Punishment—an eternal poker game, sitting up to his waist in boiling oil listening to opera music. Did I have the right to send someone there? Even Gabe?**

"Well, opera music isn't that bad—" Apollo started, but when everyone shot him disbelieving looks he sighed. "I'm the god of music, too, you know. Besides, there are certain songs that are nice."

"Like what?" Percy asked skeptically.

"_Con Te Partiro_," Apollo said, rolling his magazine up into a ball and tapping the top of it on his head. Then he frowned. "Wait, is that opera? Well, it sounds so…"

"_The Marriage of Figaro_," Nico blurted out. He blushed when everyone looked at him. "Mom used to listen to it. She liked opera." He frowned. "I'd only just remembered…"

Apollo perked up. "Oh, yes, that was a beautiful one," he said, "Pure classic." He glanced at Nico. "Do you feel any pain in your head?" he asked after a moment.

Nico shook his head. "No, I feel fine," he said. "There wasn't really a trigger there, was there?"

"Not a big one, thankfully," he said. "Alright, enough opera-talk, or I'm going to sing one of the best opera songs I know."

Nico was immediately rattled by the number of requests he got to continue with the book.

**A month ago, I wouldn't have hesitated. Now...**

**"I can do it," I told my mom. "One look inside this box, and he'll never bother you again."**

**She glanced at the package, and seemed to understand immediately. "No, Percy," she said, stepping away. "You can't."**

**"Poseidon called you a queen," I told her. "He said he hadn't met a woman like you in a thousand years."**

**Her cheeks flushed. "Percy—"**

"Oh all times for you to say that," Rachel giggled. "She's probably going to think of all the memories she had with your dad now."

Percy chuckled. "Eh, it just came out, okay," he said. "Besides, it's true."

**"You deserve better than this, Mom. You should go to college, get your degree. You can write your novel, meet a nice guy maybe, live in a nice house. You don't need to protect me anymore by staying with Gabe. Let me get rid of him."**

**She wiped a tear off her cheek. "You sound so much like your father," she said. "He offered to stop the tide for me once. He offered to build me a palace at the bottom of the sea. He thought he could solve all my problems with a wave of his hand."**

**"What's wrong with that?"**

"Well, we gods tend to offer those a lot," Apollo said slowly with a melancholy smile. "Mortals tend to wish for the lesser things, like eternal beauty, riches, grandeur."

"How are those lesser wishes?" Ron asked. "It's just a question, by the way."

Apollo looked at him. "They miss the big picture. Those sort of gifts come with prices, most of which end in despair. Still, it's in our nature. Those won't bring them happiness. To the ones whom we offer gifts… those are the people we truly fall in love with, and they tend to wish for the wrong things to make them happy."

"My mother didn't ask for any of those," Percy said.

"And look where she is now," Apollo said. "Living in a nice home, married to a nice man, and doing what she loves. You can see the obvious differences. It would be better to reject the offer and forage your own life, but most don't get that. She asked for nothing, but she got one gift she didn't have to ask for."

"And what's that?"

"In her eyes, you."

Percy looked slight taken-aback, but then he blushed. "Oh great, now I'm a gift."

Everyone laughed. "Aren't we all?" Luna asked. "Daddy says children are gifts from love. They come from the blessing of the _amorini_."

Everyone stared at her. "Sure, Luna," Ron said, frowning. "That's something I didn't know."

Apollo snorted. "She means the Erotes," he chuckled. "That's one of their Latin names."

"Oh." Ron looked sheepish as Harry and George snickered. "I didn't know that either."

'_I'm never going to get this chapter done, am I?_' Nico thought to himself. When they stopped talking, he took a chance to continue, whether they had finished or not.

**Her multicolored eyes seemed to search inside me. "I think you know, Percy. I think you're enough like me to understand. If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself. I can't let a god take care of me ... or my son. I have to ... find the courage on my own. Your quest has reminded me of that."**

**We listened to the sound of poker chips and swearing, ESPN from the living room television.**

**"I'll leave the box," I said. "If he threatens you…"**

"Statue-time," Conner muttered to himself. Nico sighed at the interruption, but continued with the chapter.

**She looked pale, but she nodded. "Where will you go, Percy?"**

**"Half-Blood Hill."**

**"For the summer... or forever?"**

**"I guess that depends."**

**We locked eyes, and I sensed that we had an agreement. We would see how things stood at the end of the summer.**

**She kissed my forehead. "You'll be a hero, Percy. You'll be the greatest of all."**

**I took one last look around my bedroom. I had a feeling I'd never see it again. Then I walked with my mother to the front door.**

**"Leaving so soon, punk?" Gabe called after me. "Good riddance."**

**I had one last twinge of doubt. How could I turn down the perfect chance to take revenge on him? I was leaving here without saving my mother.**

**"Hey, Sally," he yelled. "What about that meat loaf, huh?"**

"Dude, how did he live while she was gone?" Travis asked. "Who fed him?"

"He probably just got take-out," Nico guessed.

"Nah, he seems too lazy to use a phone," Travis said dismissively. "He must've gotten 'sympathy pies' from the people who believed his nonsense. People tend to send the 'unfortunate' food."

Percy snorted. "That's seems about right," he deduced.

**A steely look of anger flared in my mother's eyes, and I thought, just maybe, I was leaving her in good hands after all. Her own.**

Ginny smiled. Whether Sally used Medusa's head or not, she was happy that Sally was taking a better turn in her life.

**"The meat loaf is coming right up, dear," she told Gabe. "Meat loaf surprise."**

**She looked at me, and winked.**

**The last thing I saw as the door swung closed was my mother staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue.**

"There," Nico said, handing the book to Rachel. "I'm done, at last!"

Rachel smiled. "You look tired," she commented.

"I am," he said, "Of all the interruptions."

Everyone grinned at him. They knew it was unlikely that they would stop anyways. They'd done it for the entire reading.

"You know, that reminds me of the original Perseus," Apollo mused. "You know, what Percy offered to do."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

The Sun God leaned back in his seat. "Well, the original Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë," Apollo explained. "Danaë was the only child and daughter to Acrisius, King of Argos. He had no sons to succeed him so went to the Oracle of Delphi who told him that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son."

"That must have been a shock," Harry commented, scratching his head.

"It was," Percy nodded. "I looked up my namesake's history. From what I know about it, he tried to keep Danaë from having any kids."

"How'd he do that?" George asked.

"Well, firstly, he imprisoned her," Apollo explained, ignoring the startled expressions of the Brits. "I think it was in a bronze chamber open to the sky in the courtyard of his palace. Was it?" He thought about it for a moment. "Oh, yes, it was. Zeus came to her in a shower of gold and impregnated her and Perseus was born not too long afterwards. And trust me, you don't want to know other details." Apollo sighed. "Mortals don't know, but immortals are a different story."

"How does someone get pregnant from a shower of gold?" Ron asked, confused.

"It was Zeus in the form of a shower of gold, Ron!" Ginny sighed. "I don't get how this is similar to what's going on with Percy. Poseidon didn't come to Sally in a shower of gold."

"Not an image I needed in my head," Percy said, gagging.

Ginny blushed and covered her mouth. "Oops! Sorry!" George shook his head as his sister's mistake. Perce smiled.

Apollo shook her head. "Well, when Acrisius found out, he cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest," he said grimly, "A stupid move on his part, but he wasn't exactly bright."

"_What?!_" The wizards exclaimed in horror.

"I know, it's horrible," Thalia said darkly. "He didn't want to offend Dad by killing his lover and son directly, so he decided that nature would do it."

"Thank Merlin, he's not my father," the Wizarding-half of the room muttered.

"That's a horrible thing to do to your kid," George said.

Apollo smiled sadly. He wouldn't say he hadn't regretted horrible punishments he had given to his children in the past. It was only because he didn't want to the other gods to do something to them instead or because they had to learn a lesson, not because he was afraid of them.

"And Danaë prayed to the gods for help and the chest washed ashore on the island of Seriphos," Annabeth continued for Apollo. "They were found by a fisherman named Dictys who raised Perseus to adulthood."

"That was kind of him," George said. "Finally, someone decent."

"Yes, but that's where the similarity would come it, right?" Annabeth said, looking at Apollo. "Like Percy, Perseus loved his mother very much. Dictys's brother was Polydectes, the king of Seriphos, and he wanted to marry Danaë."

"Wait, the king was fisherman's brother?" Ron asked. Annabeth nodded. "Huh, well his majesty isn't really helping his brother out if he's a fisherman."

"That's not really the point," Annabeth said. "Perseus didn't approve of Polydectes, so Polydectes decided to remove from the picture."

"He wanted to kill him?" Luna asked in surprise.

"More like he plotted to send Perseus away in disgrace," Annabeth corrected. "He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a gift. Polydectes requested that the guests bring horses since he went under the pretense that he was going to marry Hippodamia, a princess from another land. Perseus didn't have a horse to give him, so he asked Polydectes to name the any other gift to give, and he would not refuse to give it."

"That's a little rash," Hermione said, frowning.

"That makes Percy similar to his namesake," Nico said with a grin.

"Ha-ha," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Polydectes held Perseus to his rash promise and demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa," Annabeth said grimly.

"I do remember Percy saying his namesake did that," Harry said. "I guess that's another thing you two have in common."

Percy smirked.

"Anyway, Perseus went and got Medusa's head, as we all know," Annabeth said with a smile. "On his return, he showed the head to Polydectes and he turned to stone."

Everyone found themselves laughing at that. Maybe it was the nonchalant way Annabeth said it that made it funny.

"There is something odd about that part," Annabeth mused. "One version says that Acrisius was there when Perseus brought the head and turned into stone as well, fulfilling his prophecy. Another said that the King when to Larissa. Perseus went after him and participated in some funeral games and accidentally struck Acrisius on the head with a discus and that killed him."

"Does that matter, he's dead," Nico grumbled. He looked upset about something.

"What's up with you?" Thalia asked.

Nico looked sulky. "That song is still in my head."

Everyone started cracking up.

* * *

**Back in the distant future…**

Nick looked up at Vena, who was busy checking her nails. He shook his head in amusement.

"If only we had really known the truth about what happens next," he said after a moment of silence. "Then maybe we wouldn't have done what we did."

Vena smiled. "Oh, don't regret that," she said, smiling. "It was amusing, to be honest. You all got what you wanted, after all."

"At a price."

"Nothing comes without a price, dearie." Vena turned away from the fountain. "Besides, they're only just beginning. They really don't know what they're in for…"

Nick grinned darkly. "That's the fun," he replied, stretching. "And looking at it, I think he does well without the High Architect. He's more fun."

Vena shook her head and walked towards the door. "And what of the potion? Do you still agree with it?"

He shrugged and stared into her eyes. "I'm not sure I'll ever agree, but there's no changing what happened. It will be interesting to see how they cope with me as the spirit of vengeance."

* * *

**Just to be clear, I'm under a lot of pain in writing this, so if I'm rude, it's only because I'm not in a good mood. Oh, and Perseus's myth was something I had written up months ago. I'm not sure how accurate it is but I'm leaving it as it is. That's my version of the story, you could say. Oh, and I made up the part with the Olympus guard. And when Vena said "dearie", I thought of Rumpelstiltskin from ****_Once Upon a Time_****.**

**Sometimes, I feel like no one reads the author's notes! I mean, I've gotten the same questions over and over, and over again, and I'm tired of answering them!**

**1. I'm not alternating the books, and that's final! Get it in your head!**

**2. Yes, I'm doing the HoO books. No, I'm not doing the Kane Chronicles. It would make no sense because that story is completely irrelevant with what I want to do. It would waste my time, and frankly, I don't need that.**

**A note to you: I'm really frustrated right now. Maybe by the next chapter, I'd have calmed down.**

**~o~**

**I am Reyna daughter of Bellona: I noticed your review had more to do with the book than the last chapter—actually, it had nothing to do with the chapter—but I'll look over that. I loved MOA. (NOTE TO ANYONE ELSE READING THIS: IF YOU DID NOT READ MOA, DON'T READ THIS!) First of all, I don't think the characters were OOC. I guess the whole romance side of the plot would make a people frustrated, but it's actually very helpful. I would have been upset if it hadn't been included. For one, they are all trying to adjust to each other. It wouldn't be, "Okay, we need to work together, so let's go" and they would ignore everything else. They are only human—well, half mortal, anyways. The characters weren't exactly butchered, but the narrating characters couldn't keep up with EVERYONE. And I loved Percy's character development. I can't expect him to stay the way he did when he was twelve. The guy is growing up. He won't be sweet forever. Things change. I wouldn't say he got arrogant, but I definitely think he saw a reason for being the way it is. For one, his memories were taken away and he has to survive by himself after being trained by Lupa and her wolves. If that's not a reason for him to act a bit more like a Roman or even a more confident person, then I don't know what is! And I see that you're frustrated with Jason and Piper. I'm not going to comment, though I agree mostly with ****_CassJayTuck_****'s book review on it. You can find it on YouTube if you want. I love those two, very much. To comment on it would bring up an argument (trust me, I'm good at arguing) and I don't think either of us needs that, so I'm leaving it alone. Honestly, I do wish there was more Hazel in the story. Maybe more Frank as well, but I got my Leo and Percy, so that made up for it. Annabeth… well, people think I'm crazy for not giving her more attention, but honestly, even since the PJO series, she wasn't one of my top five favorites. She annoyed me quite a bit of the time, and here, she still sort of did. I'm still trying to be open towards her, but honestly, I got bored with her chapters. They didn't really impress me. The only thing I AM disappointed with is the lack of Nico. Hello, Nico di Angelo is one of my favorites! For the entire book, I worried about him, and when they finally rescued him, I cried. Annabeth went into Tartarus; my reaction: Percy, did you really have to go too? Nico gets rescued; my reactions: Hallelujah, I thought I was going to die! Don't you ever do that to me again! Do you know the heart attack you gave me! I hope you're happy! I cried for days!—No, seriously, that was my reaction. Okay, now that I'm looking at it, that was a lot to say, so I'm going to stop now. Bye.**

**lunalovegood0628: My favorite Doctor… Hmm, that's hard. I love 11, 10, and 9 the most. I can't really choose between those guys. I guess it depends on the mood I'm in, but those are my favorite guys.**

**PhantomWhispers: I already have a one-shot for Apollo and Vena. It's on my story list.**

**Jonathan: Actually, I don't think so. The Percy-Annabeth problem goes a little farther than Hera's prediction. It has to do with something else that I can't say now.**

**Percabeth Lorien: I hope that I'll get to write more about Mika and the others, but it will be a long time before she interacts with the readers. A very, very, very, very long time. So, who do I think are more powerful? That's a hard one. I love both sides, to be honest, but I think the wizards have more power. The demigods have strength and skill in combat, but the wizards have magic. That would boost them up on the charts. Their lack of muggle knowledge would prohibit them in certain areas, but they don't just have to using dueling to show that they are stronger. I don't recall answering about the Curse of Achilles, but in the story, yes he still has it. He never had a reason to lose it in the first place.**

**Youkay94: Ouch, that hurt. Just kidding. Yeah, I do think that there should have been more Hazel. I think there should have been more Nico too, but I can't get everything. I've read other stories where they make him sound like a god when it came to his swordfight with Ares. It always annoyed me. I guess I over-did it in dimming it down, but I just don't like glorifying characters like that. It's too OOC and irritating.**

**Crystalyn: I'm not adding Clarisse and Chris to the story. It would just confuse me because I don't need them.**

**titan616: It always exasperated me when people acted like Percy and Harry were in the same era of time. They always ignored the fact that they belonged to separate decades. I didn't want to leave that out. The story I have for the demigods and wizards go a little past the Giant war, but it would be interesting if the wizards took part in it. It's a shame that's not what I'm doing here. It would be strange if Harry was a demigod. It would mean that James wouldn't' be his father, and that somehow hurts me inside for some reason. None of my wizard-versions are demigods, of course. They're something different.**

**~o~**

**Alright. That's enough of my rambling. This is probably one of the longest chapters ever. I'm tired. I need some sleep. I need a painkiller. I'm out.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	29. The Prophecy Comes True

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**Yeah, I'm sure there are several of you who are a bit mad at me, but I've had a good reason for not updating. I had writer's block for a while. It's been a bit difficult to really be inspired by everything, and the reason behind that is that I've had exams. All the pressure from studying and final tests have really worn me out, so that thinking about writing anything has been a real pain, but no worries, it's stopping, so here's the next update.**

**This story comes right after the last one, so the start would confuse you if you don't refresh the last part of the last chapter. Just a warning in case you've forgotten.**

**Song of the chapter: The Temptations — Get Ready**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**The Prophecy Comes True**

* * *

"Try thinking of a different song, Nico," Apollo suggested. "It always helps."

Nico grumbled. "Fine," he said. Then he sighed. "Anyone know any songs?"

Percy snorted. "Geez… Where've you been all these years?"

"Never mind…" Nico leaned back in his seat and looked at Rachel. "Are you going to start?"

"There's no need to rush," she said, turning the page to the right chapter. "**Chapter Twenty-Two:** **The Prophecy Comes True**."

"Wait, didn't it _already_ come true?" Neville asked. "After all, they did retrieve the bolt."

"We'll see what it means now, then," Rachel said, continuing with the book.

**We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everybody treated us as if we'd won some reality-TV contest.**

"What's a—"

"Not now, Ron."

"I can't even ask a question around here…"

**According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.**

"Wait, so while you're gone, you're friends make you burial shrouds?" George asked, raising both his eyebrows. "Well, aren't they showing faith that you'd come back."

"It's a tradition, George," Annabeth explained. "Besides, it would have come in useful if we hadn't returned."

George just stared at her with disbelief.

**Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful—gray silk with embroidered owls—I told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it.**

**She punched me and told me to shut up.**

A few people snorted and Percy scratched his neck awkwardly.

**Being the son of Poseidon, I didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make my shroud. They'd taken an old bed-sheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.**

**It was fun to burn.**

"I would have gone to their cabin and done that to _their_ bed-sheets," Conner mused to himself. "Wait, I already _did_ that once."

"Is that why they tried to kill you?" Nico asked curiously.

Conner raised his hand. "In my defense, I didn't know Andell was still in the room."

Those who understood what he was talking about snickered, but the wizards remained silent. They got the idea that Conner was making. Other than George, they didn't really want to know the details.

**As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along **(Apollo smiled at the mention of his children)** and passed out s'mores, I was surrounded by my old Hermes cabin mates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest "Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past."**

"Indigestion?" Harry asked.

"They're satyrs," Percy replied, like that explained everything

Grover snorted. "Oh, gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean."

**The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabin mates, whose poisonous looks told me they'd never forgive me for disgracing their dad.**

**That was okay with me.**

"Are you on the path for suicide?" Travis asked rhetorically. "Honestly? Even Conner and _I_ don't even get on their bad sides as often."

Percy grinned. "Of late, they've left me alone," he replied.

"For now," Grover muttered. Percy rolled his eyes.

**Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen my spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now he'll have an even bigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday..."**

"It's like Snape, but grumpier," George muttered.

**I moved back into cabin three, but it didn't feel so lonely anymore. I had my friends to train with during the day. At night, I lay awake and listened to the sea, knowing my father was out there. Maybe he wasn't quite sure about me yet, maybe he hadn't even wanted me born, but he was watching. And so far, he was proud of what I'd done.**

"Oh, so you're brightening up about him, yeah?" Ginny asked, smiling.

"He's my father," Percy said. "He does mean well, after all."

**As for my mother, she had a chance at a new life. Her letter arrived a week after I got back to camp. She told me Gabe had left mysteriously—disappeared off the face of the planet, in fact.**

A few people snickered while other sighed.

"How are they supposed to explain that?" Hermione asked. "Is the Mist going to do something?"

"Nope," Percy said smoothly.

"So what are the police going to do?" she asked. "Arrest your mother?"

"Why?" Percy asked. "It's not like she'd tell them what she did, after all. Besides, they wouldn't believe her. They have no evidence against her, after all. They didn't even know what really happened to him."

"True, Hermione," Harry agreed. "She can't say Gabe was turned into a statue because of Medusa's severed head. They wouldn't believe her, and she'd go to an insanity institution."

Hermione blushed. "I was just a bit worried, okay," she said defensively.

"We know," Ginny said, sparing a glare at Harry. "But it's all in the past, and so far, Percy has made it clear that his mother is fine. Even with a new husband. I doubt she gets blamed for Gabe's disappearance." She looked at Percy. "Which, by the way, is still dangerous. Do you really think he deserved death?"

"Did he deserve life?" Nico asked.

"Is that your choice to make?" Ginny countered.

"Is this conversation going somewhere?" Apollo asked, looking bored. "You know, I don't have much time left here. I have to go soon. There are some issues I need to take care of back home, so I'd prefer we wrap this up quickly."

Ginny sighed. "Fine, but I still think killing him was wrong."

"What about Voldemort?" Harry asked.

Ginny smirked. "Compare Voldemort to Gabe. Gabe is a minor point. You could have just thrown him out of the apartment. It would have been better to let him die from his own lack of self-preservation than something like getting turned into stone. Voldemort… He knew what he was doing and how to get what he wanted. Gabe did as well, but one a weaker, more pathetic scale. There's a high difference. Voldemort deserved death as it was the only way to stop him. Gabe just deserved humiliation. All bullies do."

Harry raised an eyebrow. He didn't respond, though he was dying to try. Rachel, under Apollo's gaze, started to read again, preventing the two from coming to an argument.

**She'd reported him missing to the police, but she had a funny feeling they would never find him.**

"And if they did, they'd never believe it," Grover pointed out.

**On a completely unrelated subject, she'd sold her first life-size concrete sculpture, entitled The Poker Player, to a collector, through an art gallery in Soho. **

It took the readers a brief moment to digest what Rachel had just read.

"Completely _unrelated_?" Neville asked for clarification.

"Yup," Percy said, nodding.

There was a slight pause. Then Travis snorted. "Yeah, right!"

Whatever qualms anyone had before diminish with the round of laughter that followed Travis's words. Even Apollo couldn't resist it for a while.

"She sold him to an art gallery?" Perce asked with disbelief.

"Hey, this is a _completely unrelated_ subject!" Conner protested mockingly, bringing on another round of laughter from the rest of the Greeks.

"Well, I suppose there's no law against it," Rachel said. "After all, it's just a statue."

"That was once a person," Luna said.

"And that," Rachel agreed.

**She'd gotten so much money for it, she'd put a deposit down on a new apartment and made a payment on her first semester's tuition at NYU.**

"Well, look at that!" Ron exclaimed. "Gabe finally did something useful!"

Hermione and Harry started laughing, and soon, a few others joined them.

**The Soho gallery was clamoring for more of her work, which they called "a huge step forward in super-ugly neorealism."**

"And I didn't think it could get better!" Conner chortled, almost falling on the ground next to Luna.

**But don't worry, my mom wrote. I'm done with sculpture. I've disposed of that box of tools you left me. It's time for me to turn to writing.**

"Oh, good, we don't want any accidents to happen," Hermione said.

**At the bottom, she wrote a P.S.: ****_Percy, I've found a good private school here in the city. I've put a deposit down to hold you a spot, in case you want to enroll for seventh grade. You could live at home. But if you want to go year-round at Half-Blood Hill, I'll understand._**

"Hm, another school," Conner said. "I don't know why you put up with these things."

"I prefer camp all round," Travis added.

"When was the last time you two went to a school?" Rachel asked.

The brother's exchanged dark looks. "A long time ago," Travis said. His expression kept them from asking him anything else. From the looks of it, it hadn't been good.

**I folded the note carefully and set it on my bedside table. Every night before I went to sleep, I read it again, and I tried to decide how to answer her.**

**On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'd seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky.**

"Blimey, are you serious?" George exclaimed. "That sounds brilliant! But _almost_ as brilliant as WWW's fireworks!"

Ginny giggled.

**The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, then explode into a million colors.**

"Okay, we can't do that, but still," George said, looking a bit sheepish. His siblings shook their heads.

**As Annabeth and I were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to tell us good-bye. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and sneakers, but in the last few weeks he'd started to look older, almost high-school age.**

"To _think_ he's older than that," Neville said, looking at Grover.

Grover grinned sheepishly. (Or was it _goatly_?)

**His goatee had gotten thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human.**

**"I'm off," he said. "I just came to say ... well, you know."**

**I tried to feel happy for him. After all, it wasn't every day a satyr got permission to go look for the great god Pan. But it was hard saying good-bye. I'd only known Grover a year, yet he was my oldest friend.**

Grover clapped Percy on the back. "I'm still always there."

"I know, G-Man."

**Annabeth gave him a hug. She told him to keep his fake feet on.**

**I asked him where he was going to search first.**

**"Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan..."**

**"We understand," Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"And you remembered your reed pipes?"**

**"Jeez, Annabeth," he grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat." But he didn't really sound annoyed.**

"It was nice to know you cared," Grover said. "It was just a bit odd that you were acting like my mother."

Annabeth blushed.

**He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. He looked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway—nothing like the little runty boy I used to defend from bullies at Yancy Academy.**

"Oh, thanks," Grover said, responding to the description.

Percy smiled sheepishly. "You're welcome?"

**"Well," he said, "wish me luck."**

**He gave Annabeth another hug. He clapped me on the shoulder, then headed back through the dunes.**

**Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son of Athena) crossing the Delaware.**

"George Washington's a demigod?" Hermione asked in amazement.

"Yeah, and later I'll tell you some other's you might recognize," Annabeth said. Smiling, Hermione jotted a quick reminder on her notepad.

**"Hey, Grover," I called.**

**He turned at the edge of the woods.**

**"Wherever you're going—I hope they make good enchiladas."**

**Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.**

"It put me in a good mood," Grover said, responding to the raised eyebrows he received. "I love enchiladas."

**"We'll see him again," Annabeth said.**

**I tried to believe it. The fact that no searcher had ever come back in two thousand years ... well, I decided not to think about that. Grover would be the first. He had to be.**

"I think that's obvious, because he's here," Luna said.

Grover smiled at her.

**July passed.**

**I spent my days devising new strategies for capture-the-flag and making alliances with the other cabins to keep the banner out of Ares's hands.**

**I got to the top of the climbing wall for the first time without getting scorched by lava.**

"I remember the first time _I_ did that," Travis said. "I got scorched the next morning."

Conner started snickering.

**From time to time, I'd walk past the Big House, glance up at the attic windows, and think about the Oracle. I tried to convince myself that its prophecy had come to completion.**

**_You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._**

**Been there, done that—even though the traitor god had turned out to be Ares rather than Hades.**

**_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safe returned._**

**Check. One master bolt delivered. One helm of darkness back on Hades's oily head.**

"It isn't that bad," Nico said defensively.

Apollo snorted. "Yeah, I remember the days when his hair was curly," he said cheerfully. He saw their disbelieving looks. "Of course, he hadn't married Persephone yet, and Demeter didn't stress him out as much..."

**_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._**

**This line still bothered me. Ares had pretended to be my friend, then betrayed me. That must be what the Oracle meant...**

Percy frowned. Luke may have redeemed himself in the end, but that could never change everything he had done before. There were still many of the demigods he knew who were still unwilling to forgive Luke's betrayal. The Stolls were some of them, along with many other Hermes kids in general.

**_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._**

**I had failed to save my mom, but only because I'd let her save herself, and I knew that was the right thing.**

**So why was I still uneasy?**

"Because something's off," Harry noted. "There's something missing."

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know…" Harry frowned. He couldn't put his finger on it, but judging from Percy's expression, something was definitely not right.

**The last night of the summer session came all too quickly.**

**The campers had one last meal together. We burned part of our dinner for the gods. At the bonfire, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer beads.**

**I got my own leather necklace, and when I saw the bead for my first summer, I was glad the firelight covered my blushing. The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident shimmering in the center.**

Percy absently pinched at the described bead on his leather necklace. It was a souvenir of his first summer at Camp Half-Blood; of the night before the truth was revealed.

**"The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"**

**The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause.**

**I'm not sure I'd ever felt as happy or sad as I did at that moment. I'd finally found a family, people who cared about me and thought I'd done something right.**

Harry smiled. He felt that way about Hogwarts, Gryffindor, and the Weasleys.

**And in the morning, most of them would be leaving for the year.**

**The next morning, I found a form letter on my bedside table. I knew Dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong:**

"He does that with all of us," Conner grumbled. "I'm tired of being called Clara Steel."

"And Tracy Still," Travis added, grimacing.

Percy snorted. "At least he gives _me_ boy's names," he said as everyone else started cracking up. Apollo hid a grin. He could hear Vena giggling in the back of his head.

**_Dear Peter Johnson,_**

"Does he still do that?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Percy responded.

Ron shrugged. "The Potions teacher, Slughorn, does the same with me," he replied sullenly. "My name isn't Rupert."

Hermione and Harry shook their heads, Harry: exasperatedly; and Hermione: fondly.

**_If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be incinerated in the lava pit._**

**_Have a nice day!_**

**_Mr. D (Dionysus)_**

**_Camp Director, Olympian Council #12_**

"Well, isn't that pleasant," Ginny said sarcastically. "You don't register, you get eaten."

"To be fair, it encourages you not to forget," Neville pointed out. Ginny grinned.

**That's another thing about ADHD. Deadlines just aren't real to me until I'm staring one in the face.**

"Reminds me of a few choice people," Hermione said. "I remember a certain deadline and an egg?"

Harry grumbled, "Let it go, Hermione. I figured it out in the end."

"No, _Dobby_ did."

"…Not now, Hermione!"

The Greeks started at them, confused. What on earth was Harry involved in with a deadline and an egg? Percy was certain that never happened to him.

Well, with his luck, _yet!_

**Summer was over, and I still hadn't answered my mother, or the camp, about whether I'd be staying. Now I had only a few hours to decide.**

**The decision should have been easy. I mean, nine months of hero training or nine months of sitting in a classroom—duh.**

**But there was my mom to consider. For the first time, I had the chance to live with her for a whole year, without Gabe. I had a chance be at home and knock around the city in my free time. I remembered what Annabeth had said so long ago on our quest: The real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not.**

"Had you trained enough to really prove your strengths?" Perce asked curiously.

Percy blushed. "The basics," he said sheepishly.

"Then you should have stayed," he said. "I have a feeling you didn't. There are consequences for such actions."

Percy sighed. "I know. Don't remind me. It was bad enough."

Everyone groaned.

**I thought about the fate of Thalia, daughter of Zeus. I wondered how many monsters would attack me if I left Half-Blood Hill. If I stayed in one place for a whole school year, without Chiron or my friends around to help me, would my mother and I even survive until the next summer?**

"Well, to be honest," Percy said, thinking about Tyson and how his company prevented monster attacks, "I wasn't attacked. That was good."

"Yet I have a feeling it was only temporary?" Rachel guessed.

"Yep."

**That was assuming the spelling tests and five-paragraph essays didn't kill me. I decided I'd go down to the arena and do some sword-practice. Maybe that would clear my head.**

**The campgrounds were mostly deserted, shimmering in the August heat. All the campers were in their cabins packing up, or running around with brooms and mops, getting ready for final inspection. Argus was helping some of the Aphrodite kids haul their Gucci suitcases and makeup kits over the hill, where the camp's shuttle bus would be waiting to take them to the airport.**

"I felt sorry for the poor guy," Conner said. "He looked like he was going to topple over from the weight of all those bags."

"What, none of Aphrodite's sons thought it would be nice to help out?" Ginny asked, knowing that girls with a taste for high fashion tended to go overboard with baggage of clothes and make-up.

Travis smiled. "Actually, many of those bags _belonged_ to the boys," he said, "Half of them are teen fashion models. Four are minor actors, and two are millionaire kids. The rest managed their own stuff but not their siblings'."

"You've got to be kidding," Ginny said to herself.

**Don't think about leaving yet, I told myself. Just train.**

**I got to the sword-fighters arena and found that Luke had had the same idea. His gym bag was plopped at the edge of the stage. He was working solo, whaling on battle dummies with a sword I'd never seen before. It must've been a regular steel blade, because he was slashing the dummies' heads right off, stabbing through their straw-stuffed guts.**

The Greeks looked uncomfortable. That blade should never have been made. It was inhumane.

**His orange counselor's shirt was dripping with sweat. His expression was so intense, his life might've really been in danger. **

**I watched, fascinated, as he disemboweled the whole row of dummies, hacking off limbs and basically reducing them to a pile of straw and armor.**

"Um, do you guys fight like that, too?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, but it's only against monsters," Thalia said, "Or against each other in sword practice. Don't worry, we don't kill each other."

"Just maim," Conner said. "It's the Ares cabin's favorite sport."

"Typical," Ginny said, shaking her head.

**They were only dummies, but I still couldn't help being awed by Luke's skill. The guy was an incredible fighter. It made me wonder, again, how he possibly could've failed at his quest.**

**Finally, he saw me, and stopped mid-swing. "Percy."**

**"Um, sorry," I said, embarrassed. "I just—"**

**"It's okay," he said, lowering his sword. "Just doing some last-minute practice."**

**"Those dummies won't be bothering anybody anymore."**

**Luke shrugged. "We build new ones every summer."**

**Now that his sword wasn't swirling around, I could see something odd about it. The blade was two different types of metal—one edge bronze, the other steel.**

**Luke noticed me looking at it. "Oh, this? New toy. This is Backbiter."**

**"Backbiter?"**

**Luke turned the blade in the light so it glinted wickedly. "One side is celestial bronze. The other is tempered steel. Works on mortals and immortals both."**

"Why would he want the blade to work on both immortal and mortal?" Harry asked.

"That's how it was made, I guess," Neville said. "But how'd he get it?"

"It was a gift, from what I heard," Apollo said slowly, looking at his wristwatch. He could only stay another hour. They better wrap this up quick. It would be good it he could leave early.

"Who from?" Hermione asked.

"You'll know soon enough."

Luna tilted her head to the side. Such a blade would be cruel. The enemy would find it useful. If she was right, then the enemy was using Luke. He was one of them.

**I thought about what Chiron had told me when I started my quest—that a hero should never harm mortals unless absolutely necessary.**

**"I didn't know they could make weapons like that."**

**"They probably can't," Luke agreed. "It's one of a kind."**

**He gave me a tiny smile, then slid the sword into its scabbard. "Listen, I was going to come looking for you. What do you say we go down to the woods one last time, look for something to fight?"**

**I don't know why I hesitated. **

**I should've felt relieved that Luke was being so friendly. Ever since I'd gotten back from the quest, he'd been acting a little distant. I was afraid he might resent me for all the attention I'd gotten.**

"No, that's not it," Luna said, looking at Percy with her wide eyes, and then at Annabeth. Annabeth got the feeling that Luna had worked it all out. How?—was a mystery to her.

"What'd you mean, Luna?" Neville asked.

Apollo smiled. "Luna, why don't you let the book tell them?"

Luna looked at him. "Okay," she said. "It would make more sense, I suppose."

Her friends were left a bit confused, though Hermione and Perce's brains went on overdrive to figure out what Luna meant.

**"You think it's a good idea?" I asked. "I mean—"**

**"Aw, come on." He rummaged in his gym bag and pulled out a six-pack of Cokes. "Drinks are on me."**

**I stared at the Cokes, wondering where the heck he'd gotten them. There were no regular mortal sodas at the camp store. No way to smuggle them in unless you talked to a satyr, maybe.**

"Or a Hermes kid," Conner said, grinning mysteriously. "We have our ways of smuggling stuff in."

Annabeth huffed. "I still haven't figured out how you do that," she said. "No one even knows when you leave camp borders."

Conner glanced at Travis, who was smiling to himself. "Our secret," he said.

**Of course, the magic dinner goblets would fill with anything you want, but it just didn't taste the same as a real Coke, straight out of the can.**

**Sugar and caffeine. My willpower crumbled.**

**"Sure," I decided. "Why not?"**

Rachel looked up from the book. "Apollo, video time," she said to him.

"Oh, good," he said. "It's about time, too." He picked up his remote and looked at the screen. "**Book One, Chapter Twenty Two, Scene One**."

A title appeared on the screen, captioned: **The Prophecy Comes True — Scene One — Luke's Betrayal**.

The title was enough an answer to what Luna had said before. The wizards looked shocked.

"Oh," Harry said after a moment. Apollo had let the video pause for buffering, allowing them to talk. "It was… Luke… not Ares…?"

"Bloody hell…" Ron said, hardly audible. "I never suspected that!"

"Neither did I," Neville, Ginny, and George said.

"_That's_ the prophecy coming true?" Hermione asked in disbelief. She looked at Luna. "And you knew that?"

Luna nodded. "For a while now," she confirmed.

"How?" Annabeth asked. "_We_ didn't even know at the time."

Luna smiled. "There were hints," she said in her usual dreamy voice. "There were references to Hermes many times. And one of you almost said who he was, but you stopped before you could." Luna looked at her multicolored socks, and then back at the others. "I heard the sound of the letter 'L'. It was enough. Stealing is a trait of Hermes, and to steal a lightning bolt, you had to have the required skill. It was quite obvious."

Apollo looked impressed. "It's no wonder you're in Ravenclaw," he said. "I knew Rowena. Clever woman. Always rejected my offer to go on a date, though… Artemis said that it was _because_ she was clever that she didn't."

Hermione gaped at him. "You knew Rowena Ravenclaw?"

Apollo nodded. "Well, I _am_ immortal," he said in an obvious voice. "She didn't know I was a god, anyway, though she _might_ have suspected it. Artemis convinced me to leave her alone. The gods didn't really have much contact with your magical community, but we were still there. Around that time, America was still 'undiscovered', at least by the east. So the gods still resided in the east, quite close to the Wizarding world."

"Unbelievable," Hermione said, looking at her friends, who all had the same shock plastered on their faces. Then it faded away. It _would_ make sense, after all, seeing that he was immortal.

"Back to the point," Harry said. "It was Luke, all along?"

Percy nodded. "He explains his reasons here, I think," he said, pointing at the screen.

Conner huffed, suddenly feeling a bit gloomy at having to watch his older late brother's confession. "I don't care," he said. "Can we just get this over with?"

Ginny looked at him. "I take it that you're still upset with him?" she asked.

"Wouldn't you if one of your brothers went over to the dark side and abandoned you?" Travis asked, folding his arms.

Percy Weasley turned red. He avoided looking at his siblings, as they did to him, but eventually, George glanced at him. It had hurt when Perce went over to the Ministry and turned his back on his family. Not that the Ministry had been evil dark, but they had ignored the truth and turned more corrupt than they already were. It was a betrayal as it was.

"Never mind, then," Ron said.

"Thank you," Conner said. Travis just nodded. The Greeks frowned. The brothers were always so cheery and cheeky. To see them somber and angry wasn't unusual, but on a frequent level, it was troublesome.

"I can play this now?" Apollo asked them. Rachel nodded and he hit the play button.

o

_The scene started with Percy and Luke walking through the woods with their swords in hand. The woods were deserted. There wasn't a single monster in sight. Even the nymphs were in their trees. Rays of sunlight filtered through the thin spaces of the tree branches, dotting the two demigods with light at every angle. No monster came their way for an entire of a silent minute._

_Eventually they came to a shady spot by the creek. Percy looked around it, and for a brief second, there was a flashback: __**Clarisse attacking him with her spear at that spot, right before he broke it**__._

o

"That's looked cool," Ron commented. "If only we'd been able to see that entire fight."

o

_The flashback ended as Luke handed Percy a Coke. They sat together by the creek and gulped down their drinks, watching the sun glide away in the sky._

_Luke looked at the water of the creek. "You miss being on a quest?" he asked Percy._

_Percy looked at him. "With monsters attacking me everything three feet?" he asked in a faintly incredulous tone. "Are you kidding?" Skeptically, Luke raised an eyebrow. Percy looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, I miss it," he admitted. "You?"_

o

"You miss that?" Apollo asked in surprise. "I hear the demigods always complained. I'd know. My kids almost always do."

Percy blushed. "It just seemed a bit unnatural without it," he admitted. "Besides, I was twelve."

Annabeth laughed.

o

_The expression on Luke's handsome face, darkened at Percy's question. The weary, angry look on his face and in his eyes made him look older, and his hair seemed gray in the sunlight. The scar on his face was as visible as ever._

_"I've lived at Half-Blood Hill year-round since I was fourteen," he said. "Ever since Thalia…" A hint of pain shone in his eyes. "Well, you know. I trained, and trained, and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like, 'Okay, ride's over. Have a nice life.'"_

_With that, he crumpled his Coke can and tossed it into the creek. Percy's jaw dropped slightly._

o

Grover gritted his teeth. "The nymphs and naiads always punish those who litter," he said. "They don't like littering. Neither do I!"

Percy nodded. "Yeah, they'd put centipedes and mud in your bunks when you're not looking," he said.

Those who felt squeamish shivered.

o

_Luke didn't seem to care that what he did was wrong. He said, "The heck with laurel wreaths. I'm not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic."_

_Percy frowned. "You make it sound like you're leaving."_

_Luke shot him a twisted smile. "Oh, I'm leaving, all right, Percy," he said. "I brought you down here to say good-bye."_

_Before Percy could understand what he had said, Luke snapped his fingers, and a small fire burned a hole in the ground before them. From it, a scorpion crawled out of the hole, black as night, gleaming in the light, and deadly dangerous to boot._

o

"Bloody Merlin!" George exclaimed, getting nudged in the ribs by Ginny.

Annabeth shuddered. Percy had looked so weak after his little encounter with that thing. He almost died.

"Please tell me you don't get stung by that," Hermione said, looking paler.

Percy grimaced. "Sorry, I can't." Several people winced.

o

_Percy's eyes widened. His hand inched towards his pocket, obviously to collect Riptide for action, but Luke shook his head._

_"I wouldn't," he said in a cautioning tone. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."_

_Percy looked confused and anxious all at once. "Luke, what—" His face went slack and his eyes widened. He looked at Luke, who looked calmly back at him._

_The voice of the Oracle rang out: __**You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.**_

_Percy's eyes hardened slightly and his forehead wrinkled. "You," he said, in a shocked voice._

o

"Yeah, _him_," Travis muttered, staring at the floor.

o

_Luke got to his feet and brushed dirt off his jeans. Percy looked at the scorpion apprehensively. It was crawling closer towards him, creeping onto his shoe._

o

"Do something!" Ginny said, shivering.

"Like what?" Hermione asked, panicking. "If he makes any sudden moves, it will probably attack him!"

o

_"I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy," Luke said, eyeing the scorpion. "Didn't you feel it—the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics—being pawns of the gods…" Luke glanced up at the sky. "They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods."_

o

Apollo pouted. "Oi, we're on all that bad," he said. Then he thought about it. "Half the time, at least… I think." He started to think about it more.

'_Sweetie, don't hurt yourself_,' Vena said in her head.

Apollo set his jaw, not sure where to smile or scowl.

o

_Percy looked at him, bewildered and incredulous. "Luke… you're talking about our parents," he said._

_Luke laughed, slightly bitterly. "That's supposed to make me love them? Their precious 'Western civilization' is a disease, Percy. It's killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest."_

o

"You call serving Kronos honest?" Conner mumbled to himself, not even looking at the screen.

o_  
_

_"You're as crazy as Ares," Percy said._

_Luke glared at him. "Ares is a fool," he snapped. "He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I'm afraid you won't live that long."_

_Percy glanced at the scorpion. It was getting closer to him, crawling up his pants leg. Percy's expression was starting to show panic._

o

The readers were starting to get edgy now. They knew Luke was a traitor. Those who didn't know why were still waiting, but they were more focused on the deadly creature crawling up Percy's leg.

o

_Percy looked at Luke and said, "Kronos. That's who you serve."_

o

Apollo fidgeted at the mention of his grandfather. He always gave him the creeps. "That was bold," he muttered.

"That's Percy," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.

o

_Luke looked around, like someone could be listening. "You should be careful with names," he warned Percy._

_Percy looked like he didn't care about the warning. "Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm," he said quickly. "He spoke to you in your dreams."_

_Luke's eye twitched. "He spoke to you, too, Percy. You should've listened."_

_"He's brainwashing you, Luke," Percy insisted._

o

"He wouldn't have listened," Thalia said sadly. "Once he has his head set on something, it's tricky to change it."

o

_"You're wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted," Luke retorted. "You know what my quest was two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I'd done, that was the best he could think up."_

_"That's not an easy quest," Percy said. The scorpion was getting closer. "Hercules did it."_

_Luke's eyes narrowed. "Exactly," he said. "Where's the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn't in it! The dragon in the garden gave me this"—he jabbed his finger as the scar on his face—"and when I came back, all I got was pity."_

o

Thalia sighed. That would definitely get under Luke's skin.

o

_Luke didn't stop talking. "I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos."_

o

"Not the best person to dream about," Nico muttered.

"Agreed," Thalia said.

o

_"He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus's master right from his chair. Hades's helm of darkness, too. You wouldn't believe how easy it was."_

_As he spoke, a clear image came up on the screen: _**Luke sneaking away from the other sleeping campers. It changed to him entering an empty throne room. He went to Zeus's vast throne, lithely climbed to the top, and snatched the master bolt right from the seat of the the platinum throne. It sparked in his hands. Then he spotted Hades's guest throne, which was much smaller, and the helm of darkness in the exact position that Zeus's had been, on the seat. Then he went over to it as quietly as he could and snatched it from its holder before running off.**

o

Nico pursed his lips. Even though Luke had stolen his father's helm, and Zeus's bolt, the two gods could have secured their weapons properly. At least his father had learned from that mistake.

o

_Luke continued. "The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling and I knew they'd discovered my theft."_

_As he spoke, the scorpion climbed up to Percy's knee. From the position that Percy was in, it wasn't too far from his face. Percy stared at it, and it stared right back. Percy looked like he was struggling to control himself as he said, with a slightly shaky voice, "So why didn't you bring the items to Kronos?"_

_Luke's confidence wavered, reflected in his smile. "I… I got overconfident."_

o

"No duh," Percy said.

"It does happen to demigods a lot," Apollo noted, examining his fingernails with interest. "Inheritance from the gods, so sorry about that... I really should fix these." He looked closely at his fingernails.

Rachel lightly slapped her hand on her forehead.

o

_Luke continued. "Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to ding the bolt—Artemis, Apollo, my father, Hermes. But it was Ares who caught me. I could have beaten him, but I wasn't careful enough." Luke looked both disgruntled and slightly humiliated. "He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive."_

_As the spoke, the screen showed exactly what Luke had described_: **Ares shoved Luke against the wall in an alleyway and yanked the bag with the magical weapons from his grip. He then grabbed Luke by the neck and, with the bag swinging on his shoulder, held a fistful of fire in his hand near Luke's head.**

o

"Whoa, that does look bad," Neville commented.

Rachel looked at the Stolls. They didn't say anything, but it seemed that they didn't like the fact that Luke was in that position.

o

_Percy glanced at Luke and then back at the scorpion._

_Luke said, "Then Kronos's voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea in Ares's head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight."_

_Luke's lips quivered into a slight smile. "Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes. I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone noticed my absence." He drew his new sword and ran his thumb down the flat of the cruel blade. He studied it like it was a holy item. "Afterward, the Lord of the Titans… h-he punished me with nightmares." His voice was steady, but a sense of nervousness crept up. "I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive, one who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way—from Ares down to Tartarus."_

o

"That would be me," Percy said, raising his hand.

Grover grabbed his arm and pulled it back down from the space above their heads.

o

_Percy swallowed. "You summoned the hellhound," he realized, "that night in the forest."_

_Luke didn't look at him. "We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn't safe for you, so he would start you on you quest," he said. "We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked."_

o

"You have to admit, that was a clever plan," Ginny pointed out.

Hermione, Ron and Harry nodded.

o

_The scorpion came an inch closer to Percy. Percy, as if trying not to focus on it, said, "They flying shoes were cursed," he said. "They were supposed to drag me and the backpack into Tartarus."_

_Luke looked annoyed. "And they would have, if you'd been wearing them," he said. "But you gave them to the satyr, which wasn't part of the plan. Grover messes up everything he touches. He even confused the curse."_

o

Grover looked a little ashamed at those words.

Annabeth nudged him. "Don't listen to him," she said firmly. "You're brilliant."

Grover smiled slightly. "Thanks, Annabeth."

o

_Luke's eyes started to follow the scorpion, which was now sitting on Percy's thigh. Luke said, "You should have died in Tartarus, Percy. But don't worry, I'll leave you with my little friend to set things right." He looked away from Percy and the scorpion._

_Percy gritted his teeth. A small amount of moisture spouted on his forehead. "Thalia gave her life to you! And this is how you repay her?"_

_A harsh flash of pain ignited in Luke's eyes and his jaw trembled. __**A brief flash of Thalia sitting at a clumsily made fire appeared. She was laughing with Luke, like they were sharing a joke. Then it changed to her pushing him away towards Grover appeared before she turned towards the attack of the furies and hellhounds; to him watching her die.**_

o

Thalia shuddered at the images while everyone else winced at the damage. Her death still haunted her. She could even remember that campfire. It happened when they stopped to rest while they were tracking that old goat of her dad's.

o

_"Don't speak of Thalia!" he yelled in anger. "The gods let her die! That's one of the many things they will pay for." He balled his hand into a fist._

o

Thalia sighed. She didn't exactly feel guilty for how she made Luke feel over her death, but she wished he hadn't felt it. Maybe he wouldn't have gone over to the dark side. He had always shown signs of hating the gods, but not on this level.

Annabeth shot her a sad smile. She knew that Thalia and Luke had been close friends before she met them. It had hit Luke hard when Thalia died.

o

_"You're being used, Luke," Percy said, "You and Ares. Don't listen to Kronos."_

_"I'm been used?" Luke exclaimed in a shrill voice. "Look at yourself! What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest—the ones who will serve him."_

o

"Grandpa really did a good job on him," Apollo said. "He used Luke's hatred and his own vengeance to plot a take-over."

"Don't call him that," Percy pleaded. "It reminds me that he's my grandfather, too."

"Likewise," Thalia and Nico added.

"Sorry," Apollo said, looking unfazed.

o

_Percy looked at the scorpion, and then at Luke. "Call off the bug,"_

_His words made Luke smile. "Nice try, Percy," he said. "But I'm not Ares. My lord is waiting, and he's got plenty of quests for me to undertake."_

_Percy looked a bit desperate for a way to get the scorpion off. "Luke—" he started, but Luke cut him off._

_"Good-bye, Percy," he said, raising his sword. "There is a new Golden Are coming. You won't be part of it."_

o

"He's right," Nico said. All eyes turned to him. "It didn't happen," he reminded them.

"Oh," a few of them said sheepishly.

o

_Ending those words, Luke slashed down his sword in an arc, creating what looked like a translucent portal, but before the readers could be sure of it, Luke disappeared into it, and it disappeared altogether._

o

Travis raised an eyebrow. '_He needs a _sword_ to do that?_' he asked himself. '_And I used to think he was better at it than me_…'

"Wow, what happened there?" Ron asked. Apollo paused the clip for them to talk. "Did he—no, he's not a wizard. No apparition involved."

"It's a travel trait that Hermes demigods have," Travis said bluntly. "Some need some assistance. Others don't."

"Can you all do that?" Nico asked.

Travis looked at him. "No," he said. "It's—a bit of a rare ability. For us, anyways. Luke was one of the very few who could do it. He wasn't the best, but he was better than those who could do it already. He always needed help."

"So, who else can do it?" Annabeth asked.

Conner sighed. "Sorry, Annabeth," he said. "We can't tell you."

"Why not?" Annabeth asked. "Does Chiron know?"

"No," Travis said. "At least, not for a majority. We don't ask you all for the secrets of the Athena cabin, Annabeth. Why are you so busy digging in ours?"

Annabeth blinked. "I was just asking a question," she defended herself.

"There's a difference between asking a question and being nosy," Travis said. He didn't look angry at her, but it was obvious that he was aggravated.

"Don't mind him," Conner said, realizing his older brother was on the rocks. "He's just sore about—well, you know."

Apollo looked at Travis. He looked exactly like Hermes when he was an angry. That wasn't good. He let the clip play again, to distract the others from the conversation. However, Annabeth was still thinking about it and Travis didn't care.

o

_The second Luke disappeared the scorpion launched itself in a deadly attack at the son of Poseidon_. (Neville made a small squeaking sound that only Ginny could hear.) _The clip went into slow motion: Percy almost threw his hand into his pocket and yanked Riptide from the fabric, flicked the cap off and pushed himself backwards. He swerved his sword at it and sliced it cleanly in half_. (The readers sighed with relief.) _But as the pieced fell, the stinger caught onto Percy's hand and left behind a huge, red weld_. (The readers winced. Even Apollo looked uncomfortable.) _It began to ooze and smoke with yellow guck._

_Percy started convulsing._

o

"Oh, damn, how far are you in the woods?" Thalia asked.

"_That's_ what you're focused on?" Ginny asked her.

Thalia frowned. "Okay, how about this?" She looked at Percy. "How far away were you from help?" Ginny banged her forehead against George's shoulder.

"Far enough," Percy said. She groaned.

o

_He tried to get to his feet and ended up stumbling towards the creek. He pushed his hand in the water, but nothing happened._

o

"The poison was too strong for the water to heal," Percy explained to a few questioning looks.

"Oh, doesn't that make it better," Nico grumbled, looking slightly anxious. "No one ever told me this happened to you."

Percy shrugged. "Well, it happened a long time ago, so it didn't matter."

o

_Upon realizing what he was trying to do failed, Percy tried to stand up again._

'_**Sixty seconds**_,'_ Luke's voice echoed out._

_Percy stumbled away from the creek back into the woods. He was turning green and the whites of his eyes were tinting red. _(Annabeth pressed the side of her face into Percy's shoulder. She had almost vomited at the horrible sight of him when she first saw him.)_ Percy's face was contorted in pain and there was sweat all over his head. He fell in with a loud crunching noise, startling a few tree nymphs out of their trees. They looked down at him in shock._

_Percy's eyes were barely able to open. "Help," he managed to croak out. "Please."_

_The two nymphs didn't hesitate to go to his side and help him up. At an immensely speedy pace, they ran towards camp._

o

"Thank the gods that they're fast," Grover said in relief. "You would have died otherwise."

"Without them, he would have been lost before the poison got him," Thalia said.

"Thanks for the faith, Thalia," Percy grumbled.

Thalia snorted. "No, seriously, Percy," she said. "In that state, you would have stumbled into trees so often you'd have no clue where was north from south, much less the direction of camp."

Percy flushed. "Point taken."

o

_The scene changed to the camp itself._

_What remained of the Aphrodite campers were at the beach, talking about their favorite movie stars and films. Clarisse was sparing with two of her brothers from the Ares cabin. Three Apollo campers were practicing archery. The two older girls were helping a younger brother._

o

"Oh, hey, that's Lexi and Kayla," Conner said. "I'm surprised they weren't with Will."

o

_Everything looked fairly normal. A tall dark-skinned teen from Hephaestus was hammering away on a sword. He stopped for some water when he saw the nymphs running out of the woods._

o

"That's Beckendorf," Annabeth said sadly, remembering their old friend.

"He looked way younger back then," Nico said, frowning. Beckendorf was happy in Elysium. That didn't mean that he deserved to die.

o

_"Oh my gods," said one of his other sisters. "Is that Percy?"_

_Beckendorf's eyes widened. He looked at his sister. "Nyssa, get Chiron!" He ran off towards Percy and the nymphs while he ran off towards the nymphs._

_His sister, Nyssa, ran off towards Chiron, who was passing the archery range. She nearly bumped into Annabeth along the way._

_"Chiron!" Nyssa called. "Chiron, something's wrong! The nymphs brought Percy Jackson from the woods! He's hurt!"_

_The screen cut back to Beckendorf taking a faintly conscious Percy from the nymphs and running over to reach Chiron, who got there in seconds. It took Chiron less than that to realize what happened to Percy. The sting was clearly visible._

_"Oh, dear gods," he said, grimacing in horror. "Hold on, Percy." He blew at his conch horn, and immediately, all the campers who heard him ran towards the cabin area._

0

The video stopped and the screen went black.

"Oh, sure, leave us hanging," Nico said.

"It's in the book, and you know what happens anyway, Nico," Percy said.

"You got stung by a scorpion," Ron said, shaking his head. "Do you meet any other scorpions in your life?"

Percy tilted his head. "Well, there were a few, but Annabeth was there that time," he said.

"Ugh, those," Conner said, shuddering. "Those gave me the creeps."

"Yeah," Grover said. "I tried to reason with them, but they were just really hungry."

Harry stared. "Why am I reminded of Blast-Ended Skrewts?" he asked the others.

"I have no idea, Harry," Neville said, shaking his head.

"Can you finish your book, please?" Apollo said, "Time's-a-ticking."

"Alright, Mr. Impatient," Rachel said, opening the book. She glanced at him to meet narrowed blue eyes. She refrained from laughing and started to read the book again.

**I woke with a drinking straw in my mouth. I was sipping something that tasted like liquid chocolate-chip cookies. Nectar.**

**I opened my eyes.**

**I was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, my right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead.**

Annabeth smiled. She had been so relieved when he woke up.

**"Here we are again," I said.**

**"You idiot," Annabeth said, which is how I knew she was overjoyed to see me conscious. **

Annabeth blushed. He wasn't wrong.

**"You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing ..."**

**"Now, now," Chiron's voice said. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit."**

**He was sitting near the foot of my bed in human form, which was why I hadn't noticed him yet. His lower half was magically compacted into the wheelchair, his upper half dressed in a coat and tie. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale, the way it did when he'd been up all night grading Latin papers.**

"He was really worried about you too," Annabeth stated. "We all were. Well, besides the Ares cabin, anyways."

**"How are you feeling?" he asked.**

**"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."**

Hermione caught the expressions of the purebloods at the word 'microwaved' and jotted a small note on it to explain to them later. She realized she'd have to do that a lot with the little things they wouldn't understand.

**"Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."**

**Between sips of nectar, I told them the story.**

**The room was quiet for a long time.**

**"I can't believe that Luke ..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him... He was never the same after his quest."**

"For someone who made you blush a lot, you really didn't like him at that point, I guess," George said. Ginny bit back a small smile at Annabeth's expression.

"Oh, hush," she grumbled, causing Percy to laugh. After a stern glare she gave him, he stopped, but the corners of his lips were still tilted upwards.

**"This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once."**

**"Luke is out there right now," I said. "I have to go after him."**

**Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods—"**

**"Won't even talk about Kronos," I snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"**

**"Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready."**

**I didn't like it, but part of me suspected Chiron was right.**

"He usually is," Apollo said, shrugging.

**One look at my hand, and I knew I wasn't going to be sword fighting any time soon. "Chiron... your prophecy from the Oracle... it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Was I in it? And Annabeth?"**

**Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Percy, it isn't my place—"**

**"You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?"**

**His eyes were sympathetic, but sad. "You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I'm right about the path ahead of you..."**

**Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.**

**"All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine!"**

Apollo snorted with laughter. "Typical dad," he chortled.

Thalia tried not to laugh with him. She was successful up to a point.

**He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons, Percy. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing."**

**"We can't just sit back and do nothing," I said.**

**"We will not sit back," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come."**

**"Assuming I live that long."**

**Chiron put his hand on my ankle. "You'll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice..." I got the feeling that he had a very definite opinion, and it was taking all his willpower not to advise me.**

"I'm pretty sure he was," Annabeth said. "He just didn't want to take your free-will away from you."

"I appreciate that," Percy said.

**"But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision."**

**I wanted to protest. I wanted to ask him more questions. But his expression told me there could be no more discussion; he had said as much as he could.**

"It's always like that with adults," Nico said, sighing. "It gets irritating sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, a lot. Happy?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Boys!"

"Sorry, Rachel…"

**"I'll be back as soon as I can," Chiron promised. "Argus will watch over you."**

**He glanced at Annabeth. "Oh, and, my dear ... whenever you're ready, they're here."**

**"Who's here?" I asked.**

**Nobody answered.**

"I assume that would be the same if _I_ asked it, right?" Neville asked the Greeks.

There was only silence on their end.

"Just checking," Neville said, shutting up. Luna patted his knee sympathetically.

**Chiron rolled himself out of the room. I heard the wheels of his chair clunk carefully down the front steps, two at a time.**

**Annabeth studied the ice in my drink.**

**"What's wrong?" I asked her.**

**"Nothing." She set the glass on the table. "I ... just took your advice about something. You ... um ... need anything?"**

**"Yeah. Help me up. I want to go outside."**

**"Percy, that isn't a good idea."**

**I slid my legs out of bed.**

"I'm too stubborn to listen," Percy said as Annabeth turned a sharp eye at him.

"It happens with Harry a lot," Ginny said, looking empathetic with Annabeth.

"Oi!" Harry protested.

**Annabeth caught me before I could crumple to the floor. A wave of nausea rolled over me.**

**Annabeth said, "I told you..."**

**"I'm fine," I insisted. I didn't want to lie in bed like an invalid while Luke was out there planning to destroy the Western world.**

"He wasn't going to do it in a day. Geez!" Thalia said, giving Percy an incredulous look.

Percy grinned sheepishly. "As I said, I'm stubborn."

**I managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on Annabeth. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance.**

**By the time we reached the porch, my face was beaded with sweat. My stomach had twisted into knots. But I had managed to make it all the way to the railing.**

**It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.**

**"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked me.**

**"I don't know."**

**I told her I got the feeling Chiron wanted me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I wasn't sure that's what I wanted. I admitted I'd feel bad about leaving her alone, though, with only Clarisse for company...**

"Not everyone was gone, you know!" Conner said, holding up his hands. He jabbed his thumb at Travis. "We're year-rounders, too!"

"Well, where were you two?" Annabeth asked.

"Out," Travis replied.

"And where was out?" Hermione asked.

"The pharmacy," Travis said, trying not to smile.

"We don't _have_ a pharmacy!" Annabeth said.

Conner rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, Lady Einstein," he said sarcastically. "We'd never had guessed." Annabeth glared. He raised his hands. "We went out for a while! We came back!"

"And how'd you do that?"

"Our secret," Travis said. "Not telling."

Annabeth looked a bit disgruntled. Rachel sighed and looked down at the book. At least she had only two pages left.

**Annabeth pursed her lips, **("Quite like what she's doing now," Thalia said quietly to Nico.)** then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year, Percy."**

**I stared at her. "You mean, to your dad's?"**

**She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.**

"You gave them another chance," Hermione said, smiling slightly. She already knew that, of course. Annabeth told her while they were cooking the previous day. It was still nice to see.

"Yeah, and it wasn't like the last time," Annabeth said, smiling.

**"I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth said. "Just like you suggested. I told him ... I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided ... we'd give it another try."**

**"That took guts."**

**She pursed her lips. "You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least ... not without sending me an Iris-message?"**

"They were making dates back then?" Conner whispered to Travis.

His older brother grinned.

**I managed a smile. "I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to."**

**"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"**

**"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena."**

**She held out her hand. I shook it.**

"Yup, they were making dates," Travis confirmed. He said it loud enough for Rachel, Thalia, and Nico to hear.

They all suppressed laughter.

**"Take care, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth told me. "Keep your eyes open."**

**"You too, Wise Girl."**

**I watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world.**

**For the first time at camp, I felt truly alone. I looked out at Long Island Sound and I remembered my father saying, ****_The sea does not like to be restrained_****.**

**I made my decision.**

**I wondered, if Poseidon were watching, would he approve of my choice?**

**"I'll be back next summer," I promised him. "I'll survive until then. After all, I am your son." I asked Argus to take me down to cabin three, so I could pack my bags for home.**

"And that's it," Rachel said, closing the book. "We're finally done."

"Really?" Ginny asked. "Wow, it took this long to read one book," she added.

"That's only because you lot kept interrupting," Apollo said, standing up and stretching his back. "Yeesh, my back hurts!"

Nico stood up. "Mine feels fine," he said, sitting back down.

"Yeah, well you're… supposed to be injured," Apollo said slowly. "Never mind..." He walked about to stretch his legs. "I hate sitting down for long periods," he grumbled to himself. Then he said, "Well, I have to go now."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I have—stuff to do," he said.

"You're going on a date?" Harry guessed.

Apollo turned pink and then grinned. "Uh, no," he said. "There's a sun to be driven and a little sister to annoy."

"She's older than you," Thalia reminded him.

"You're starting to sound like her," Apollo said, unfazed. "Anyway, I should go now."

'_Wait fifteen minutes, Apollo_,' Vena said in his head. '_You can go, afterwards_.'

'_Oh, you're coming now_?' Apollo asked. '_How's the potion_?'

'_Coming along well_,' Vena said. '_I'll be there in a minute. It's been a while since I spoke to any of them_.'

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Any of them?" he asked aloud.

Percy frowned. "Who are you talking to?" he asked.

Apollo sighed and looked at them. "Well, reading's over now, but something else begins," he stated. "You'll be in for a shock."

"And what would that be?" Thalia asked.

"Incoming," Apollo warned them. He didn't need Vena to notify him on her timing.

A flash of light appeared next to Apollo. The readers shielded their eyes against the brightness until it had fully disappeared. When it was gone, everyone realized that someone was standing next to Apollo.

It was instinct from everyone to jump to their feet at once, and for the wizards to inch their hands to their wands. Apollo snorted and looked to his left and the immortal that could drive him crazy.

**~o~**

As for the readers, they were met with sight of something new. Standing next to Apollo was a tall young woman somewhere in her early twenties with long bronze-gold hair that curled around her head in a slightly messy array of ringlets. She was wearing a white shirt and khaki shorts and flip-flops. She had the beauty of any immortal, and for a minute, those who had met Aphrodite almost thought it was her. But something was very different.

This woman wore no make-up at all. She had a necklace around her next, but her pendant fell below her shirt. Her eyes were the most startling aspect to look at. Those weren't ordinary eyes at all. She had no proper iris or pupil. It was like looking into the vastness of space at all the stars that existed, like two tiny galaxies. She smiled kindly enough, almost playful and amused, but there was something darker in her stature and her stare. Annabeth got the immediate instinct of danger.

"Who are you?" she asked, wishing she had her knife with her.

The woman looked at her. "I'm the host of household," she said lightly. "You could be more polite if you wish." She had an Ancient Greek accent, marred with a hint of Australian or Welsh.

Percy stepped forward. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to offend her. "She's doesn't know who you are," he said. "I think it's okay for her to be suspicious, right?"

Apollo smirked. The woman smiled. '_I understand that, Percy_,' she whispered into his head. Percy stiffened. '_Oh, don't worry. I've been doing this with Apollo for a while_.'

'_Really_?' Percy thought to himself.

'_Yes_,' she replied. He looked startled. '_I can hear you, boy. Shh_.'

Percy's jaw dropped and looked at Annabeth. Then he looked back at the woman again.

Suddenly, Nico clutched his head and yelped. Thalia grabbed his shoulder. "Nico, are you okay?" she asked. She glanced at the woman as if she had hurt him.

Nico nodded and closed his eyes. In the back of his head, he could remember familiar laughter, and a lullaby sung during a heavy rainfall. With shock, he opened them and stared at the woman in shock. Then he grinned.

"Aunt Vena!" he exclaimed, rushing forward and hugging the mystery woman.

Annabeth's jaw dropped. It wasn't just the fact that Nico was hugging someone (that shocked everyone), but he already knew her. No one else did.

"_Ciao, il mio ragazzo_," she said cheerful. "My, you've gotten big, eh?"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute," Percy said, raising his hand. "Nico, who is this?"

Nico blushed and released Vena. "She was my old governess," he said sheepishly. "I'd forgotten. She took care of me and Bianca when Mom was alive."

Conner looked at Vena carefully. "Wait a minute," he said slowly. "Travis, she looks familiar... Why am I thinking of checkers?"

"Checkers?" Travis asked, confused. Then he started to catch on to what his brother was saying. "Checkers… and strawberry cream pie…" His eye widened. "Vanessa?"

Thalia stared at the brothers in surprise. She raised an eyebrow. "_You_ guys know her too? And I thought her name was Vena."

"It is," Vena said softly. "I am Venaurora Veryna Asteria, the Guide of the Universe, Keeper of Thoughts and Knowledge, and the youngest daughter of Chaos."

* * *

**So, that's the last reading chapter for this story. There are several more to go before SoM.**

**First off, I meant to upload this yesterday, but the family is something else here. You really don't want to know. It involves a bit of drunkenness. Anyway, I had exams for two weeks and by the end of it all, I was stressed out and my brain sort of short-circuited when it came to thinking up anything good. I'll admit, I got a bit lazy, but then I started to try again. If the beginning of the chapter seemed a bit slow, then that was the reason why.**

**Second off, my parents wanted to move, and I have to pack up all my reading books. I hated it. Then they decided that they weren't going to move after all, and it took me a long time to find my books for references again. So irritating! I mean, really, if we're going to move, why couldn't they have just—oh wait, you guys aren't my friend Dave. Yeah, I think I'd rather rant to him about this, sorry.**

**Other than that, I spent quite a bit of Christmas day writing this, and I'd hoped to update it then as a Christmas present, in a way, and the power had to go out in the neighborhood until nightfall. After that, I had lost a bit of inspiration, so I left it off until now, so I'm really sorry about that. I just know that in the next three months are going to be a serious examination time.**

**Whoopi. (This is sarcastic, obviously.)**

**Anyway, at least I got this up before the end of the year. That's good. Now all I have to do is worry about the next chapter.**

**~o~**

**To pixeljam: Hm, I can't really choose a favorite couple out of this lot. I know that I adore Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Ron the most. From the Wizarding group, Ginny is my favorite, and from the demigod group, Nico is my favorite. It's always a bit difficult to choose, but I love them all.**

**To Jonathan: Well, actually, they didn't really see Vena's face or hear her name, so they couldn't really react to her, especially since they didn't know who she was. As for Gabe's fate, I'll admit, I got a little bored writing that. For the number of chapters left, quite a few remain before I start Sea of Monsters.**

**To Percabeth Lorien: I would think that children of Hecate would be a bit more powerful than witches and wizards. In my story, that is a bit of a key point, so I'm not really going to say much, but I can guarantee that the wizards are connected to the demigods through Hecate. I'll shut my mouth there. And I am a Percabeth shipper. This story is just—a bit different for them though. But they're safe. So far. Oh and, in the last chapter, Nico helps Albus ****_Potter_****, not Albus ****_Dumbledore_****. I think the old man is past needing that. As for Nico's little status, that is a bit of a secret for later. When it comes to Percy's future, I'm going to have to put that on lock-and-key for a while. Spoilers. (I read that in River Song's voice, from Doctor Who.) As for the Stolls's powers, those are coming up soon.**

**To Juli Beawr: Well, Vena isn't exactly a good girl. A dark history, she has. And I didn't spell Nico's name as "N-I-C-O" because in the future that I've written, they call him Nick. By the way, who's Ambush? I don't recall writing anyone called Ambush in the last chapter.**

**To** **QueenPersephoneofHades: I don't exactly hate Annabeth, but she isn't one of my favorite people. She tends to annoy me every now and then.**

**To Idea: It would be interesting to bring in the future Nico, but I think that would cause a bit of a bad disruption. Trust me, having future Nico wouldn't be the brightest idea. He's not like past Nico anymore. And I don't need Vena to know the future just to annoy Annabeth. I mean, she will annoy her in some way. I don't think Annabeth and Vena would get along well.**

**To Woody626: You make yourself an excellent point. I really am trying to find ways to short the reading time and get the books done in time for the end of the HoO series, but my times is definitely off. I do have other things to do, especially schoolwork. If I start failing everything because I'm not studying, it will be bye-bye computer and stories altogether. And I'm not trying to push too much of the future into the chapters. Just little bits, but I can get how people can forgot. I forgot a thing or too and I had to go back to reading it for a refresher. But I will do my best with it all. I'm only seventeen, not a miracle worker. Plus, I do have all the Percy Jackson books written up, and I've already starting writing up Harry's books. It's just to edit it into the format for the uploading chapters that's the problem. If I really sat down to write rather than do bit by bit, every now and again, I can have a chapter done in a day. I've practiced with homework. I did plan out what I wanted before for the entirety of the PJ series, but then MoA came out and I had to change almost everything. I can't imagine what will happen when House of Hades comes out, but I'll work with it. *Sighs*. And as for the pain that I had that frustrated me a lot, I cracked my neck badly a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't move it at all, and when I did, I started screaming bloody murder. I freaked my mother out. I couldn't even go to school or anything.**

**To Annabeth Granger: Um, hello. Uh, let's see, I got about… four review messages from you. That's the most I've ever seen from someone for one chapter. Unexpected, that was. The first one didn't bother me. It wasn't strictly critical, to be honest, so when you said that in the other one, I was a bit confused. The second was good. As you see, I've mentioned you. I wouldn't say I'm like JK Rowling or Rick Riordan, but they're my favorite authors, so that's for the compliment. Oh, and trust me, the review wasn't very long. You should see what Percabeth Lorien writes. Those are enjoyably long.**

**To the Guests:**

**1: I'm not abandoning the story. I'm pretty stubborn that way, but I guess waiting two whole book series is going to take a toll on everything. I'm trying to get the two series down by the time all the Heroes of Olympus books are out. That's the plan. It's a work-in-progress. And it is a bit frustrating when I put up author's notes and it's like the readers completely ignore them. I've decided to just let that go now.**

**2: When I said that Nico was the spirit of vengeance, I didn't mean the Ghost Rider one.**

**~o~**

**Okay, that's the end of it all. Other things that I'd like to say:**

**First, I saw the ****_Doctor Who Christmas_**** special! I think I annoyed a few people on Facebook because I kept posting stuff about it like a fangirl. Luckily, my friends don't watch Doctor Who, so they didn't get it, but I think they just wished for me to shut up. If you haven't seen it, I'm not spoiling, but I love the new stuff they have, like the opening sequence, the interior of the TARDIS and the companion. I thought it was all fantastic. I really loved it.**

**I'm am yet to see The Hobbit, but I really want to. I think I'll do that later. I'm almost done watching The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sarah Jane Smith was one of the best companions for the Doctor, ever! She was marvelous.**

**Oh, and I read Divergent and Insurgent. Those two books are amazing. I really loved them. I think I'd be from Erudite. It's either that, or Candor, because I can be honest to the point where I can hurt someone's feelings. It's been that ways since I could talk. And I've taken an interest in The Mortal Instruments. Does anyone recommend that I read those books, because I want to try something new.**

**Okay, that's enough from me. Sorry for any errors. I have to go now. See you later.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	30. Meeting Vena V Asteria

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

**Note ahead: I made a small reference to my story "Nico, Meet your Papa" in the first part of this chapter. I don't remember if I made a reference to Mark of Athena, but if I did, look out. Oh, and this isn't a reading chapter. This is Vena's introduction to the readers.**

**Song of the chapter: Snow Patrol - Run.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty**

**Meeting Vena V. Asteria**

* * *

**In the 1930s...**

As midday approached, the blue sky was hidden away by thick white clouds. The air was cold, a sign that winter was near; it slowly trickled away the time of remaining warmth.

In spite of the immediate inconvenience of an awaiting downpour, a young woman walked briskly down a long smooth road. She readjusted her warm traveling coat over her burgundy dress; the fabric danced with her every step and swayed in the gentle breeze. Her curly bronze-gold hair combed back from her face, so that her jewel eyes gleamed with a million stars.

At the end of the road, she came to meet the tall towering black gates that defended a handsome manor, specially built for the rich family who resided there. She studied the gates for a brief moment and then continued walking.

The moment her skin touched the solid metal, she turned into a transparent vapor, imbedded with little white dots, like stars. She walked through the metal bars and once she was on the other side, she returned to a solid form, as if she hadn't gone through the gate in the first place. Even gate stood as it did before.

She took a deep breath and walked towards the polished mahogany doors and up the stone steps. She looked at the knocker. It was shaped gargoyles. She raised her hand and used the knocker, rapping it four times against the wood. She could hear the sound of breathing, the sounds of talking and laughter, all hidden behind the walls.

Thoughts that were not her own drifted through her head as she waited for the butler to answer the door.

He was surprised to see her there, but he didn't question her arrival. They didn't speak. She knew that _he_ knew why she was there. Instead of talking, he led her though the house, through halls and corridors with tall windows shrouded with black and brown curtains. It was quaint, in an expensive way. The woman didn't pay much attention to details. She just followed the butler through the corridors until they had come to the back of the manor.

Beyond the vast mahogany doors laid a long, green field of a backyard. In the distance, at the end of a long, neat stone walkway was a long rectangular pool with three cherub fountains spouting water up into the air.

Running around in circles was a small dog made completely of skeleton bones. A young girl was laughing, running around as it chased her. A little boy clung on to his mother's hand as he laughed at the sight, pointing at the dog that chased his sister around.

"They're darling, Lord Hades," the young woman said, not taking her eyes off of them. "I don't mind watching over them for you."

A tall, lanky man walked up behind her. Hades, Lord of the Underworld, was dressed in all black, with a silver chain around his neck, with a pendant shaped like a skull.

"Thank, you Lady Vena," he said. She turned to face him and gave forth a small curtsy to him. "With this war at hand, all of my children are in danger. I have given care to my other children, but the di Angelos…" He sighed. "I fear they have a different fate."

Vena smiled sadly. "You know I mustn't tell you of their futures," she said. Then she heard a few of his thoughts. "But you glimpsed young Nico's future. It puzzles you."

"Yes," Hades said. "I see my children's fate with death, but not him. He was alive and very dark as it was."

"I can't tell you what it was," Vena said. "_That_ fate has not even started its motion on the universal web. There is no telling what it is, or could be, until it is clear enough to understand."

"As an alternative, you have an idea, at least?"

Vena smiled. "Of course, I do," she said. "But I wouldn't want to spoil anything, now, would I? Let us see Nico and Bianca, shall we?"

She smiled secretively at him and started walking towards the di Angelo family. Hades narrowed his eyes, feeling both disappointed an agitated, and followed her towards his lover and children. He was sure than Vena knew exactly what had happened in his vision. She was always secretive, but with something like this? She always left a clue.

"Ilario!" Bianca called. The skeleton dog yapped at her. "Ilario, come here!"

The little dog raced towards his mistress and ran into her leg. Its head bounced off in one clean motion and rolled away on the grass.

Little Nico started laughing at it.

Bianca scowled. "Bad doggie!" she scolded it, picking up its head. "I've told you, Ilario! Don't knock your head off!"

"I see why the other governesses ran off screaming," Vena chuckled softly.

Hades hid his smile away. "Well, she never did hide him properly," he said, exasperated. "The thing always escapes his kennel."

Vena giggled. She had heard the thoughts of the butler many times before. He hated the dog with a passion, mainly because it frightened him to no end.

Little Nico turned his head around at the sound of her laughter. "Papa!" he squealed when he saw Hades standing next to Vena. The little child released his mother's hand and ran towards his father. Bianca looked up when Nico called out, and smiled. She ran after her brother, leaving the dog to chase them.

"Hello, Nico," Hades said. Vena could tell Hades was slightly uncomfortable when picking his son, but he complied with it, only because Nico's feelings were easily hurt when he didn't get hugs from his father.

"Ciao, Papa!" Bianca said, tugging the neat fabric on his left leg. She looked around at Vena with wide eyes. "Who are you?" she asked curiously.

"This is Miss Vena Aster," Hades said, setting Nico back down on his feet. "She is your new governess."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "How did you know Miss Helena had left us?"

Hades smirked. "Oh, just after I saw her running and shrieking away from this house. It was as if I had released Alecto to commit terror upon her." Maria shook her head at the description.

Vena smiled and looked down at Bianca and Nico. "Well, this will be no trouble," she commented. They were innocent and young, still learning their powers and how to control them. Maybe she could nudge them correctly in a few places.

"Every governess we're had has always left in terror," Maria warned her. "They cannot handle my children's gifts."

Vena glanced at the skeletal dog, Ilario. It was sniffing at her burgundy dress. She snapped her figures twice and it stop, looking up at her obediently. She twirled her figure around and it yapped once before rolling over to entertain the children.

They started laughing, but when Vena cleared her throat and gave them a kind yet stern look, they stopped and smiled angelically at her. Nico looked like he wanted to start laughing, but to show his parents that he could be good, he looked at his father and smiled.

"Oh, don't worry," she reassured Maria. "I'm no ordinary governess."

* * *

**In the 1990s…**

The sun had long since set in the sky, but the inky black vastness of the night sky above was shielded by the thick veil of storm clouds towering over the city before. Harsh raindrops splattered on the asphalts of the streets, on the roofs of house, on the glass windows of every building—it was cold outside, and by all means, it was loud, but it wasn't harsh enough to ruin the evenings of many.

"Yes, Sandra, I know," Leanne said into the phone as she walked up and down in her bedroom, trying to figure out which pair of shoes she wanted to wear on her date. "The green ones don't go with the dress, so that's automatically out."

A little boy peeked into the bedroom at his mother. "Mommy, can I watch the TV?"

Leanne almost didn't look at him. "What, Conner?"

"I want to see a movie."

Leanne studied her shoes. "Sure, sweetie, go ahead." He ran out of the room.

'_How are you handling them, girl_?' Sandra asked on the phone.

Leanne sighed. "I'm not sure if I can," she said. "They're too much like… _him_."

**~o~**

Little Conner Stoll ran up to the television and pressed the 'on' button. He looked around for the remote, and came to realized it was on top of the television unit, out of his reach. He huffed.

"Travie, help!" he called, running into the kitchen. He grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and started to tug it towards the living room.

Travis, his older brother, was busying drawing away with his crayons. When he saw what Conner was doing, he tilted his head.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"I want—TV remote," Conner puffed, still pulling the chair. Travis easily slipped off the chair and went to his brother's aid. The two of them got the chair to the television in seconds. Travis, being taller, climbed up onto the chair and reached up as high as he could. He had to jump to get the remote. After that, he jumped off the chair.

"Thank you," Conner said, taking the remote from him before helping him put the chair in its right place.

**~o~**

Leanne clicked the heels of the black shoes she had chosen on the lightwood stained floors as she walked back and forth in her room, fixing her dress and her hair. She dabbed dark pink lipstick on her lips and added mascara to her eyelashes. She still had her phone to her ears, chatting away with Sandra.

"No, Brian's picking me up," she said. "Yeah, Kimberley couldn't make it, so I had to get a different sitter… Her name's Vanessa, I think; Vanessa Starr…" She combed back a few stray strands on her face. "Sandra, you know those boys are trouble… That's not my problem. Henry should have stayed to take care of them!"

**~o~**

Standing outside the house, under a large umbrella, stood a young girl in her mid-teens. She had curly bronze hair and dark eyes. She looked down the street. A lanky figure watched her, drenched from the rain. His salt and-pepper-hair spiked down his forehead as he watched her.

"They'll be fine," she muttered softly.

The man nodded and disappeared into thin air. She turned away from the spot where had had stood and walked over to the house, perfectly unnerved by the heavy and freezing cold rain pour. She could hear several noises inside the house: a cartoon on the television, a woman talking, a child's voice…

"Well, _Vanessa Starr_," she said, sounding amused at the name, "Time to meet the **_Thief_** and the **_Traveler_**."

**~o~**

The doorbell rang.

Leanne walked over to the door, just as Travis ran up to her, holding a newly drawn picture.

"Mommy, look what I drew," he said.

"Sweetie, not now," Leanne said, patting the top of his head without looking at him. "Go to the living room with Conner."

Travis frowned and slowly backed away from his mother toward his brother. He looked down at the picture. It was a regular shoe with wings on each side. Upset that his mother was ignoring him—again—Travis dropped it on the ground and ran to the kitchen.

Leanne opened the front door and saw the young girl standing on the doorstep. "Oh, hello."

"Hi, Leanne Stoll? I'm Vanessa Starr, remember? We talked yesterday?"

"Oh, yes, hi, Vanessa," Leanne said. "I'm sorry, I almost didn't recognize you. I was in a bit of a rush. Come in, get out of the rain."

"Thank you," Vanessa said, "It's a real mess out there tonight."

Conner popped his head into the hallway and looked at Vanessa for a moment. "Who you?" he asked in a small voice.

"Conner, this is Vanessa," Leanne said, looking at the clock for the time. "Vanessa, this is Conner, my youngest. Mind, he's five, but he's a handful. But not as much as Travis." Leanne looked around. "Where _is_ Travis, anyway?"

"Kitchen," Conner said. "Drawing." Then he ran back into the living room.

Leanne looked at Vanessa. "Conner doesn't really know how to speak well," she said. "He and Travis both have dyslexia and ADHD. Conner is very unwilling to try and read and talk. He just gives small word answers."

Vanessa nodded. "What about Travis?"

"Oh, he speaks more," Leanne said. "You could say he speaks for the both of them, but he's a bit rude. Just be warned, Conner has sticky hands, so I hope you don't have anything he can take."

"Don't worry," Vanessa said smoothly. "I don't have anything he can steal."

Leanne smiled. "Good," she said. "It's not going to be too difficult to tell them apart," She said. "Some people think their twins, but Travis is only a year older. He's the taller one, by the way."

Vanessa looked down at the ground at the fallen drawing by the elder Stoll brother. "What's this?" she asked, bending down to pick it up.

Leanne shrugged. "It's probably one of Travis's drawings," she said absently without giving it a glance. "He loves to draw."

A car horn honked outside and Leanne peeked out of the window to see what it was. "Oh, Brian's here," she said, hurrying up the stairs. "I need my purse…"

Vanessa glanced out of the window where Leanne's date, Brian, was in his car, waiting for Leanne. By the time Vanessa walked into the living room, Leanne was back with her purse, and a coat and umbrella to protect her from the rain.

"Okay, emergency numbers and instructions are pinned on the fridge, and they know where to get food in the cupboards," Leanne said quickly. "They should be in bed by nine, at the latest, and don't let Conner watch any horror movies. He saw _Jaws_ nearly a year ago and he still gets nightmares."

"I got it," Vanessa said with a smile. "You have a good night."

"Thank you." Leanne called out into the living room, "Conner, Travis, I'm leaving now! You two, be good!"

She nodded to Vanessa and exited her house. Vanessa decided to go see Travis. He was busy drawing in the kitchen, using crayons, markers, and even paints. He had made a bit of a mess with the paints on the table, but just from the very condition of the table, it had been to hell and back, covered in old scraps and marks, and childish drawings. There were even drawings all over the white walls of the kitchen.

Travis looked up at Vanessa and then back at his work. '_Mommy never listens_,' he thought to himself. '_She no like me or Conner... She no like Daddy_…'

"Hello, Travis," Vanessa said kindly.

Travis looked at her again. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vanessa Starr. What are you drawing?"

"None of your business," Travis muttered, returning to his drawing.

'_She wasn't wrong about rude_,' Vanessa thought to herself. She looked down at the drawing. It was of a creature she supposed was a cow, but it was bright red.

'_It reminds me of Apollo's cows_,' she thought to herself. '_Then again_…' She looked into the mind of little Travis and say the vision he was trying to create. '_It could be the same herd altogether_…'

She went out into the living room and watched Conner for a while. She heard a small echo in the back of her head.

'_Hermes_?' she thought. '_What is it_?'

'_How are my boys, Miss Vena_?' he asked. '_You know I can't see them_.'

'_They're perfectly fine_,' 'Vanessa' replied. '_Are you aware of their relationship with their mother?_'

There was a brief silence. '_There's nothing I can do about it_,' he said sadly. '_A_r_e you sure about my boys' futures, Miss Vena_?'

Vena smiled. '_Of course_,' she said. '_Are you sure you want me to_—assist _their mental growth_?'

There was another moment of silence. '_I'm sure_,' he replied, leaving her thoughts.

Vena nodded her head. "_The Thief and the Traveler_," she said softly. "Don't worry, Hermes. You can count on me." And with that, she snapped her fingers behind her back, in sync with a loud noise on the television so Conner couldn't hear.

The power in the neighborhood went out, and every light in the house went out with it.

0

Everyone stared at the woman standing next to Apollo. She patted Nico on the back and went to stand between a surprised Thalia and a curious Rachel, who was staring at Vena in awe.

Conner stepped forward. "I remember you…" he said slowly, pointing at Vena. "You… you took care of us… when we were little kids."

"So Nico isn't the only one who knows her," George said slowly, looking wary of the girl before him. His hand inched forward to his pocket, where his wand waited. "But really, who are you?"

"I've told you," Vena said. "I'm the Guide of the Universe, the Keeper of Thoughts and Knowledge, owner of this household, the daughter of Chaos… Should I repeat that?"

"It's impossible for you to be a child of Chaos," Annabeth said defensively. "I've read about him, and nowhere does it say that he had a daughter named Venaurora!"

Vena smiled. "Nothing is that impossible, daughter of Athena," she stated. "No mortal was to ever know of me. That doesn't mean that what I say is wrong."

Annabeth shook her head. "It can't be!" She insisted. "Chaos had the Primordial deities, Gaea, Tartarus, Erebus, and Nyx! Some say Eros, but we all know that he's a son of Aphrodite." Annabeth frowned. "I still don't understand that whole situation..." She shook her head and looked back at the Guide. "It's just not possible! The history books would have said—"

"History books can be misleading," Venaurora said evenly. "And besides, you don't really know that much about my Father."

"Chaos is female," Annabeth said stubbornly.

Vena smiled dryly. "Not now, _he_ isn't," she said, equally as stubborn.

Hermione reached for her notepad and started writing as quickly as she could. Vena smiled. She didn't mind.

Vena stepped forward, approaching each of the readers individually. As she got nearer to each other them, they'd tense up as if she would attack, but she merely smiled and passed them by.

"You're all so big now," she said cheerfully. "The last time I saw any of you in person, you were all little kids."

"You've met all of us?" Harry asked, confused.

Vena smiled. "Actually, I've _taken care_ of almost all of you," she said. "For every demigod or worthy mortal that holds an extremely strong tie to any destiny of earth, I am permitted the chance to—care for you, and oversee you as a child… Even _guide_ you towards your destiny. That is my responsibility."

Harry frowned. He was sure he hadn't seen this woman before. Hermione was on the same wavelength with him, but she did find her voice familiar. Ginny, Ron, George, and Perce were completely clueless as to when they'd ever encountered this woman before. Luna only stared at her, and Neville glanced at all his friends, just to see if they'd recognized her.

Percy was thinking along the same line as Harry. Thalia eyed Vena carefully. Something about her _did_ seem familiar, but she could figure out what it was. Nico and the Stolls were sure of what they knew about her. She did care for them after all. Grover could sense what everyone else felt. He wasn't sure he'd seen her before, but he did think she was pretty. Rachel knew of Vena, and she was sure that Vena knew about her. However, she wasn't sure she had ever _met_ Vena before.

Annabeth was sure that Vena was a complete stranger to her. She got a tingling sensation that she should _stay away_ from Vena. Danger rang out of her from _every_ angle.

As they studied Vena, she studied them back. She could hear everything thought, every doubt, and she could feel the distrust and confusion from all of them. She knew that it wouldn't easily fade away, but it would be a rough start for them to believe her story when she told them.

Hermione looked at Apollo. "And you know her?" she asked.

Apollo nodded. A grin spread over his face. "I've known her for centuries. She's one of Artemis's closest friends."

Thalia raised her eyebrows in surprise. This woman was good friends with her Lady?

Vena smiled softly. "I hear your questions," she said. "I'm willing to answer them, but not every secret is yours to know."

"What secrets?" Grover asked.

Vena placed her index finger on her lips in a sign of silence. "My father would have my head if I said anything. Not literally, but close enough." She looked around. "I'm feeling hungry," she said. "Do you want an early lunch?"

Percy looked at Annabeth. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Annabeth wanted to deny the offer, but she couldn't decide for all of them. It was obvious that everyone else in the room wanted to know who Vena was, and how she was connected to her, but Annabeth just wanted to get as far away from her as possible. That would be a bit difficult, seeing that she was staying in Vena's home.

"It's up to you all," she said, looking at her demigod friends and the wizards. "Your choice."

Ron was the first to speak after half a minute's silence. "Well, I do feel a bit hungry," he admitted.

**~o~**

Everyone basically watched Vena cook while Apollo texted away on his cellphone, specially designed by Hephaestus for godly use. Nico was sitting between Percy and Neville. He twiddled around with his skull ring, thinking to himself.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked after a while. He didn't take his eyes off his ring. "You stopped coming around three weeks before Mom's death."

Vena stirred the spoon around the pot. "Request of your father," she said. "He and Zeus were under a heavy dispute, and seemingly to Zeus, I continuously got in his way of sending a lightning bolt at Hades's back."

"Well, you did teleport my father into some pretty strange places when he attacked Hades," Apollo reminded her. "The funniest was his reaction when you put him near Alaska."

Vena giggled. "Yeah, he stopped bothering me after that," she said, sighing. "Still, when he realized I was taking care of you and your sister Bianca, Nico, he made a threat that neither Hades nor I could ignore. Only the Oracle kept him at bay. I watched you from a distance. It wasn't enough." She looked around at Nico. "After than—incident—Hades placed you in the Casino, so you were out of my reach."

"And what about us?" Travis asked, gesturing to himself and Conner.

"It was nearing time for you to go to camp," Vena said, adding some water to the pot. "I prepared you for your journey, and when you were ready, it was time for me to go."

Grover frowned. "But you're an immortal," he pointed out. "You're not supposed to have such prolonged contact with demigods."

Vena smiled at him. "It has to do with the destiny of earth," she admitted. "That's the only time I'm able to interfere."

"What do you mean, 'Destiny of earth'?" Ginny asked, folding her arms.

Vena picked up a tiny portion of her cooking, which looked slightly like rubbery dough with raisins, and popped it in her mouth.

"Oh, that's simple to explain," she said smoothly. "There were moments in this world that defined the fate of the world and the future, like the Trojan War, World War I and II… The First and Second Wizarding Wars, even the First and Second Titan Wars… Each one of these wars has held the fate of the future of humanity in their midst… There has always been a leader on the side of good for these wars, and I've made sure to take care of those who would bring the world to fruitfulness rather than destruction."

"You said you took care of most of us," Percy said. "I don't recall ever seeing you before."

Vena glanced at Apollo, who had been thinking of his duties back home while he texted. "You want to leave now, or are you staying?"

Apollo took a deep breath. "I'll stay," he said. "I'd like to know this as well, because you didn't tell me you already knew them."

She smirked at him. "I thought so," she said. She looked back at the demigods and the wizards. "I suppressed your memories of me. I was supposed to help you develop as children in different ways, and when it was time for me to go, I would make sure you wouldn't ever focus on me in your memories as you grew up. The only reason Nico remembered me was that I'd always visited him as a child, even after I was supposed to go, and the Stolls' memories were always strong. They never focused on me again, but they'd know me as soon as they'd see me."

Everyone looked around. Even when they tried, they couldn't remember her.

"You said, most of us, right?" Hermione asked. "Which ones?"

"Well, almost all of you, but there are a few of you who have never met me before," she replied. "I haven't spoken to Grover, but I have spoken to his mother. There were Neville's parents, but not Neville. I saw you as a kid, but I never interacted," she added, looking at Neville.

Neville smiled. "When did you meet my parents?" he asked.

"Before you were born," Vena replied. "They were lovely people, Neville. You're so much like them."

Neville blushed and Harry patted him on the back. A ball of pride grew in his chest. He was proud to be like his parents. They were heroes, even in their insane state.

"There was Annabeth, as well," Vena said slowly, turning toward the daughter of Athena. "I didn't think Athena would approve of me going near you, so I stayed away.

Annabeth was relieved by that revelation. She wasn't sure that Vena would have been a good influence on her as a child. She didn't know where that feeling came from, but it bounced around her head like a game of _Pinball_.

"I haven't met every Weasley," Vena went on, returning the spoon to the pot, "but I have met every single one in this room, just the once." She looked at the Weasley siblings. "You all never needed direct guidance from me. Your parents did a superb job on their own."

Annabeth took a deep breath, her head reeling. "Okay, then," she said as steadily as she could. "You've met us before, but I still don't understand who you are. Chaos doesn't have a daughter named Venaurora Veryna Asteria. I don't recall seeing that name in history before. And what are we doing here? Did you bring us here? And why? Is—"

"I'm starting to see why children of Athena annoy you," Apollo chortled as he saw the exasperated expression on Vena's face. "They're so persistent."

"Oh, shut it," Vena mumbled. "And as for your questions, I can only answer them one at a time," she said to Annabeth. "It would be nice if you didn't spring them all on at once. It's irritating, like a meddlesome journalist. I know you're better than that."

Annabeth turned red, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry," she said.

Vena smiled. "Okay, why don't we start from the top?" she suggest. "Who I am first, yes?"

Annabeth nodded. "I know that Asteria is a Titan goddess of stars, and in no way was she Chaos's daughter."

Vena smiled. "True," she said. "Maybe I should start from the top of my story, then. First off, Asteria the Titan star goddess doesn't exist. That was always me." She saw the disbelieving look on Annabeth's face. "Would you like a glass of water? You're turning blue."

"You're a Titan?" Percy asked, backing away from her.

"Oh, no, of course not," Vena said, waving her hand. "I'm older than the Titans."

"But I've read about her," Annabeth insisted. "Asteria was the daughter of Koios and Phoebe. She was the sister of Leto, Apollo and Artemis's mother. She was Perses's husband. They had Hecate for a daughter!"

Apollo growled slightly at the mention of Perses. "I always hated him," he grumbled, looking as handsome as he was angry.

Vena laughed and patted him on the head. "Oh, don't be so jealous, Apollo," she said. "You'll get wrinkles." He pouted attractively. "And as for all that history you know, it's false. The gods created it so that I could live as normal an immortal life as they."

Annabeth looked taken aback. "But it's in the history books stored in the Athena cabin, written by my mother herself!"

"Exactly," Vena said. "It was her idea."

'_That can't be_,' Annabeth thought to herself. '_Mother's books contain the _truth.'

"Or she gave an alteration of the truth," Vena replied to the thought. Annabeth jumped. "Yes, I heard you," Vena added before Annabeth could open her own mouth. She turned off the stove and twirled her spoon in her hands. "If you stop asking questions, maybe I can tell you the truth."

Hermione sat forward, eyeing Vena suspiciously. She could tell her friends, as well as the demigods, wanted to ask a boatload of questions, but they had to remain calm. Vena obviously didn't like to be overloaded.

"Alright, then," she said. "Say that the books were written with false facts… Annabeth, let her tell the real ones."

Annabeth wanted to ask another question, but she realized that would get her nowhere. She reluctantly nodded her head. "Fine," she said, looking at Percy.

Percy bit his lip and looked at Thalia and Nico. Thalia was looking at Vena curiously, and Nico looked completely at ease. Did he already know this, or was he just too comfortable to look confused? He couldn't tell.

"Okay then," he said. "Who was Chaos? Because that name doesn't really ring a bell."

"Chaos, in the very beginning, was the creator the universe as we know it," Apollo explained. "She came before the Titans, or even their mother, Gaea. Some say that there was life before her, but our history and knowledge only goes back to her, and even that information is scarce. Ask Athena herself; she'll tell you that."

"I've read about Chaos, and not once did it ever say she had an extra daughter, especially named Venaurora," Annabeth said stubbornly.

'_How many times has she said this already_?' Ron complained in his head. '_We heard her the first time_…'

"What's with the feminine references?" Ginny asked. "I thought you said Chaos is your _father_."

"He is, Ginny. I'll get to that soon enough. And no mortal was to ever know of me, Annabeth," Vena replied smoothly. "I suppose it goes back into the far off history, before the Titans themselves. You see, Chaos was a being from the void of nothingness," she said. "From there, _she_ gave birth to her children, the Primordials: Gaea, Tartarus, Erebus, Nyx, and Eros."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to say something, but Percy clamped his hand over her mouth. She glared at him.

Vena waved her hand and a new chair appeared next to Apollo's. She put her concoction on a plate and sat down next to him.

"What's that?" Luna asked curiously.

"It's Prasad," Vena stated, "I always say Parsad out of habit. It's a food for a religious offering in both Hinduism and Sikhism, which is consumed by worshippers."

"You worship Hinduism?" Neville asked, thinking it was strange for a Greek immortal to do.

"Oh, no, I just like the food," Vena said, popping a piece into her mouth. "It's tasty, try it."

Conner and Travis were the first to take a piece. When they showed signs of liking it, Nico and Neville gave it a shot.

"It's good," Neville said, munching away. Ron helped himself to a piece.

"Thank you," Vena said appreciatively. "Now, back to the history lesson, yeah? Let's see, let's see… Oh yes. Chaos's children. Originally, I was supposed to be amongst them, but after mother created Eros, she grew very tired from it all. You see, she had no mate. She had to use her brain to create her children, and such willpower took a lot of strength."

'_Like Mom_,' Annabeth thought to herself.

Vena continued, "She sent the Primordials to the earth and withdrew to rest. Gaea became the earth deity, created Ouranos, the sky deity, and they had the Titans. The other Primordials went on to different stations: Erebus, personification of darkness; Nyx, deity of the night; Tartarus, an abyss in the Underworld; Eros, the desire.

"Afterwards, Mother stayed in the cosmos and watched as they carried out their lives while she rested. She waited for her health to regenerate, and then created me a few years before Hestia's birth. In that final moment, she went freeform. She was able to choose whether to be male or female at any given time. And _Mother_ raised me in the stars for the first few years, and later changed to _Father_."

"So, wait a minute… your _mother_ and your _father_ are the _same_ person?" Ron blurted out, flabbergasted, "Ah, blimey!"

Vena started laughing at the expression on his face. Harry was just as amused as Vena (and also a bit shocked); he had to nudge Ron in the ribs so his eyes would return to their sockets and his mouth would cease to be a fly catcher.

"I'm sorry, it was rude of me to laugh," Vena said, finding control of herself again. "You know, Ron, you were always one of the funny ones. That was always one of the best things I liked about you."

Ron turned red, but he looked a bit pleased. "Thanks," he said.

"Yeah, but as I was saying…" Vena picked up another piece of Prasad. "Hmm, oh yes. Well, I was just a child in the Golden Age, the age of the Titan's rule. My—father—refused to let me go to Gaea's earth. He didn't want me under the Titan influence."

"A wise choice, I must say," Apollo said, checking his watch. He could risk staying a little while longer.

Vena rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, in my childhood, my father created this place for me. It's called _Astéria tou nefelomatos_; that translates into _Stars of Nebula_. We just call it Star for short. I grew up here, in this mansion. It's made of Chaotic Matter, so it's always changing. Even _time_ is different here."

"So that's why when we go into the hallways, time can change," Harry deduced. "It either speeds up or it slows down. It's different."

"Yep, and it's not just time. Even distance can change," Vena said. "It's a _constant_ change. That's why I need maps in every hallway. The place doesn't like to stay the same way for long."

"Oh, thanks for the maps, then," Percy said, helping himself to a bit of the Prasad before the other guys ate it out. "I would have gotten lost without those."

"You're welcome," Vena said, smiling. "Now, as for growing up here, I could watch down at the earth. I saw the entire Titan War as a child. I was always the late one. Being Chaos' youngest child, I was dubbed the title of 'The late-born.' I never really minded. I stayed with Father and he grew fond of me.

"As my powers came into development, I was given the job of being my father's lieutenant and the Guide of the Universe. Because of that, I can see the future and destiny better than the _Moirai_ or _Delphi_, the oracle. I knew the outcome of the war. I knew the gods would win."

"Seriously?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, she was the first true seer, besides anyone from the Titans," Rachel said. "She was born with the gift to see the future, and every possible future that could do along with it."

"How do you know that, Rachel?" Hermione asked.

"Because of me," Apollo stated. "All my Oracles know of Vena. It's their concern to know. It's been that ways for centuries."

Annabeth looked shocked and hurt. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked Rachel heatedly.

"It's not _my_ secret to tell," Rachel replied indignantly. "I was entrusted with this information by my patron and I kept it! Is that wrong?"

Annabeth turned red and folded her arms. "I suppose not," she said. "So you knew about her this whole time, even before we came here?"

"Yes, and I suppose that you deserved to know about something that wasn't any of your concern?" Rachel asked her waspishly, feeling a bit miffed. Annabeth sighed and sent her an apologetic look.

Vena shook her head. They weren't going to fight, but if she didn't start talking, they could end up in a heated argument that she didn't want to contend with. "Anyway, along with what Rachel just pointed out, I do see the futures of everyone. I see outcomes of every decision that can ever be made. But only if I _choose_ to, for a majority."

"How does that work?" Luna asked curiously. "How do you do that?"

Vena took a deep breath and played her hands. "Well, no decision is made in stone," she said softly. "For every decision, there is _always_ an alternative. I'll use a simple example. Say... you are given two options: getting a flying car, or a flying motorcycle." She smirked at the look on Ron and Harry's faces. "You could go and get the motorcycle. But what would have happened if you got the car first? The outcome would have been different, even if later on you would get the other item.

"Another example could be books," she continued. "Say you wanted a book on Roman history, but there is also a book on Egyptian history as well. You can choose one and get the other later. You can take both. You can take neither. There is always a decision to be made, and the outcomes can change. I can see what would happen in each decision. Even if you can't _change_ what you've done, I can see what _would have_ happened."

She gave them a few minutes for that small explanation to sink in.

"Is it always like that?" Ginny asked at last.

Vena nodded. "The hard part is that I can see for everyone. And I mean _everyone_. Everyone who's ever existed, who is still in existence, who will exist… I can see the many outcomes of each life. There are billions of lives on the earth every century. I have been around for millennia. How many lives do you think that is?"

Everyone in the room was gaping at her in horror. She didn't bother to wait this time.

"There is another part to it," she said. "I can hear their thoughts. Feel their emotions. It's the price to pay for being the Guide. I have a responsibility to look after every life. To see how they will live, and die. It's quite—depressing." She looked at all of them sadly. "I know what going on in each of your heads right now. I can feel the shock, the disbelief. I can hear your denial, your confusion. I don't ask to know it. I simply do. It's a difficult job.

"It's why I'm called the Keeper of Thoughts and Knowledge. I can hear thoughts, thus all knowledge is mine to know, whether I like it or not."

She paused to let that sink in. She looked at Apollo, who gazed serenely back at her.

"It's tougher than being a god, I'll tell you that," Apollo said quickly, refusing to look away from Vena. "We get different areas to work with. Smaller in some cases. She doesn't have to deal with that, but just imagine hearing all those voices in your head."

"You'd go mad," Nico muttered. All eyes turned to him. "Dad said he used to judge the souls in the Underworld before he decided on the Judge's panel. He saw the lives of many; heard every thought that went through their heads. Saw everything they'd ever done. Anything that made them happy, anything that made them sad, anything that made them angry, anything that gave them hatred, even murder, rape, lust—anything and everything… There's a reason why his eyes are so maniacal. He almost went mad." He sighed. "I think Bianca told me that."

Vena nodded sadly. "Your father used to be such a pleasant man," she said, her eyes glittering as if she were remembering something pleasant. "Stern, orderly, and pleasant… He was lovely in the old days. But looking through the eyes of horrid people hardened him. Drove him crazy. I recommended the judge panel in the first place, because he couldn't take it anymore. He has been forever grateful." She sighed. '_I wish I could have someone to hear thoughts for me_,' she thought to herself. '_That would be nice_...'

"That sounds awful," Hermione whispered. "How do you stand it?"

Apollo sighed and started texting on his phone again.

"I didn't," Vena said sadly. She head their surprised thoughts. "You see, in the beginning, there weren't that many humans, just immortals. It was a bit easier, but to hear such bitterness was horrible. Father kept me away, even after the gods had won the war. He helped me control the thoughts, to separate foreign thoughts from my own.

"But it wasn't enough. I was young and innocent, like any other youth. Father wanted me to learn the aspects of life properly, so long after Athena's 'birth' came to be, he took me down to the earth below. That's when they came up with my façade."

Vena looked at Thalia. "I assume that Artemis has told you about Asteria?"

"Yeah," Thalia said slowly. "She told all the hunters. She always made it sound like Asteria was just a minor immortal."

Vena nodded. "It was a deal between Father and Zeus that got that story into motion. By order of Zeus, no one was to know of me; the true me, anyways. The façade is a different story. To you, I am the Titan star goddess, Asteria, but that is only ever a disguise. That was another job assigned to me by my father; to be the Caretaker of the Stars in his domain. Asteria is my—last name, as you might put it.

"When I came to the earth, I was mistaken for a regular goddess, but I am just a Primordial. Some say 'Primordial goddess', but that term is usually applied to _Gaea_ alone. I had to take up a disguise when I went to earth, so I went under the guise of Asteria, the Titan goddess of stars. That's what the mortals knew me as. Immortals were a different story, and all were under the law not to speak the truth about me to outsiders."

"But why did you have to do that?" Nico asked curiously.

"Well, when I was created, my mother created me with a specific purpose," Vena said slowly. "All my other siblings belonged to the new earth that Gaea had created, but she wanted a child different from the rest. Everything about me was made in my mother's vision of _perfection,_ which is _highly_ overrated." Vena looked annoyed now. "Mind you, it's a bloody pain!" She pointed at Apollo. "He's Exhibit A."

Apollo looked up from his phone, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Vena rolled her eyes. "You think I'm prettier than Aphrodite," she complained. "Do you need glasses or something?"

Apollo snorted. "Oh, come on, sweetheart!" he said soothingly. "It's not like that."

"Hey, I've been in your head, remember! You have to point out every detail every time you look at me. It's a bit creepy. And you've been doing it for thousands of years. That just adds to it."

"Will you two stop fighting like a married couple, please?" Harry asked. "We already have to deal with Ron and Hermione."

Ron and Hermione both sent him sharp looks. He smiled innocently back at them. George chortled along with Ginny. She glanced at Harry. She'd forgotten that, even when he was being rude and snappy, he could still be amusing.

However, Harry's words had hit an awkward nerve with Apollo and Vena.

Vena looked away from Apollo quickly and bit her lip, trying to ignore the thoughts running through Apollo's head. Apollo tried not to think about it, but eventually he glanced at Vena's left hand... like there should have been something on it.

Vena got up and went over to the refrigerator. She took out a bottle of chocolate milk and returned to her seat, taking small sips from the bottle. Apollo's eyes didn't leave her the entire time, but she ignored him completely.

"Anyways," Vena said loudly, clearing her throat. "That was not the point. Knowledge of my existence would tie me closer with the pantheon, and I'd have to stay constantly connected to the Olympians under the rule of the Ancient Laws. However, the Fates admitted that I had my own laws to follow, ordered by Chaos, and one of them was to be more isolated from the lives that the gods lead. When I was down there, I'd need a cover. I was young and I didn't complain. Now that I'm older, it seems quite silly, to be honest."

"So, how did you get the story that Asteria was the daughter of Koios and Phoebe then?" Thalia asked.

Vena shifted around in her seat and summoned an Egyptian designed bracelet out of thin air. As she fixed it on her wrist, she said, "Well, Koios and Phoebe were thrown into Tartarus with the other Titans, but their daughter, Leto, had been a peaceful Titan, and had not joined in the war. She had been given amnesty. When she was offered the role of being my 'sister', she took it without complaint. It helped me settle my story better."

Vena paused to let the demigods absorb the new information. She took another sip of chocolate milk.

"'Asteria' was meant to marry Perses, the Titan of destruction, as part of the false story," Vena said softly. Apollo tensed at the mention of the Titan and his eyes flashed dangerously. Vena gave him a warning look and he nodded his head, still looking angry.

"So… you're married?" Ginny asked. Apollo got angrier.

"_No_. No, she is not," he said like a child fighting over a toy, glaring at the ceiling. He folded his arms and looked away. Vena rolled her eyes, exasperated and amused, and shook her head.

"He doesn't like Perses," she told the readers. "But that's another matter. That was only for the history books. I never married him. He didn't want to marry me, just like how I didn't want to marry him. He was my friend. A good friend, though some people—" Apollo huffed—"just didn't like him." She gave the Sun God a pointed look. "Anyway, Perses wanted a child. I gave him one using nebula from the universe. We combined with his immortal blood the concoction, along with my magic sorcery, and we were able to create a goddess, a daughter he named Hecate."

"Goddess of Witchcraft," Nico muttered. "_You're_ her mother?"

Vena shook her head. "Hecate has no mother. Just a father. It was through his blood and my magic that she was created. That's why she's the goddess of witchcraft; she was practically born from it. But it was not a conception like other babies. I am a maiden, like Artemis. To history, 'Asteria' and Perses had Hecate, but in truth, it was just Perses with a little help. I have no title to it. Hecate is not my daughter."

"Thankfully," Apollo muttered under his breath, unfolding his arms.

Vena rolled her eyes. "You know, if you're going to grumble, maybe I should go check in with Thanatos. He was always nice to me. Or maybe _Perses_…" Apollo growled, looking both adorable and menacing at once.

"That's not funny," he said.

Vena smiled sweetly. "Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not," Apollo said, folding his arms again.

"It was like this when I kissed Hermes on New Year's Day the decade before the Trojan War," Vena explained to the wizards and Greeks, shaking her head.

Apollo pouted. "You had to bring that up, didn't you?" he whined.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who blasted him into the water fountain afterwards, you know," Vena pointed out.

"And you weren't the one who had to heal him either," Apollo grumbled. Vena laughed and almost choked on her chocolate milk.

Conner blanched. "You kissed our dad?" he asked in shock.

Vena shrugged. "That's another story," she said awkwardly. "It's one we don't have to talk about."

"Oh good," Travis said, thinking it was gross that his father had kissed his old babysitter.

"Anyways, that's how the Asteria story was conceived," Vena said. "It was all fake, even the part where Zeus chased her. Oh, if Zeus ever tried to chase me, Chaos would have his head. Literally."

Thalia snorted, and then covered her face with her hands. She knew it was her father they were talking about, but way Vena said made it a fun fact.

"Okay, so out of all the gods, how does this tie you to Apollo?" Annabeth asked after a long silence. "Why is he here and not one of the other gods. No offense, my lord."

"Some taken."

The daughter of Chaos swatted lightly him on the arm. "Well, when I went to earth, I had to learn the basics that my father couldn't teach me properly. He was so busy trying to sort out the rest of the universe that I had to take a backseat. Because of that, I was taken to the Olympians and made an apprentice under certain gods."

"Like who?" Grover asked.

Vena twiddled with her fingers. "My father didn't want my siblings to teach me; that was one thing I knew. He always kept me away from a majority of them, especially Gaea." Vena bit her lip. Gaea was her least favorite sister. "Well, there was Hestia and Hera. They taught me at the same time, so I learned about family and marriage from them."

Annabeth huffed at the mention of Hera. Vena's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but she didn't say anything.

"There was Demeter, who taught me agriculture," Vena continued. "She doesn't really like me anymore."

"Why not?" Rachel asked.

"I'm getting to that," Vena said. "Well, there was… Aphrodite, yes. She was different in the old days, when love and beauty was purer in her mindset. That's what I learn from her. She's still fond of me, but I _still_ think that's only because I always get her pretty gifts."

Apollo laughed. He remembered Aphrodite's reaction to the gift Vena had gotten for her on her Paris celebration in the 1920s. Aphrodite still kept it safe in her jewelry closet.

"There was Athena, who taught me crafts and wisdom." Vena sighed. "It was—significant that I learned from her. I respect her, but I don't always get along with her anymore. Not since Rom…. Never mind. And there was Hades. He taught me the meaning of life and death. He was very nice in those days. A bit like Nico is now, but with a strict serenity."

"Is that possible?" Percy asked in disbelief.

Vena smiled secretively. "He was always one of my favorite teachers," she added, not bothering to answer his question. Apollo didn't even bother to try; he could barely remember the old Hades. "Then came the Twin Archers, Apollo and Artemis."

Apollo grinned. "Yeah, Artemis tried to teach you how to hunt," he said, an amused glint tinting his sky blue eyes. "You never like it. You were alright with the archery, but you didn't like killing at all. You cried over the poor animals."

Apollo's grin fixed. Vena didn't _have_ problems with killing anymore.

Vena, ignoring Apollo's side-thought, blushed as Thalia started laughing. She then slapped Apollo's forearm. "I was young!" she protested. "It didn't matter that I was older than you, I was a Late-born. I developed _late_!"

"Yeah, and Hades had to go over life and death with you again," Apollo added off-handedly. Vena slapped his forearm again. He started laughing with Thalia.

"And then there was you," Vena said, looked at Apollo. She was unsuccessful in her attempt to prevent a smile.

"Yeah, I think I helped you the most," he said, smiling at her. Vena rested her chin on the palm of her hand and looked down at the Prasad. Then she looked back at him.

"And how was that?" Ginny asked.

"Well, I'm the god of prophecy and knowledge," Apollo said. "I could help her with prophecy without trouble. But knowledge was nearly her downfall."

"What do you mean?" Perce asked, trying to satisfy his thirst for information without going overboard like he used to at Hogwarts.

"Well, the population of humans began to increase, as did their actions in both good and evil," Vena said slowly, soothing her breathing so that the old memories wouldn't pop up in her head again. "It became a nightmare for me to see everything they saw, feel everything they felt, and to even know everything they knew. It expanded my knowledge a tenth-fold, but it always started to drive me mad. Athena did her best to help me, but all I could really do was cower in a corner and scream. The voices were too much."

"And I had to help her," Apollo added before the demigods and wizard were able to digest Vena's explanation. "As the god of knowledge, I was able to help her sort out her thoughts from the humans and immortals. I helped her learn how to control the flow. She used to have random outbursts every now and again. I was the only one who could calm her down."

"Don't sound so smug," Vena said, closing her eyes.

Apollo grinned at her. "And I found out that music calmed her down the most," he added. "She had a good singing voice, but it wasn't as good as mine, of course." He eyed the demigods alone, as if daring them to say otherwise. "I helped her tune her own voice."

"Wait," Percy said, holding up his hand. "I heard a singing voice in the corridors!"

"So did I!" Harry said, sitting forward. "Was that you?"

Vena nodded her head. She'd almost forgotten that they'd heard her singing. "I always sing when I'm alone," she said. "It keeps me calm. Isolation tends to drive me—crazy."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Like the Disney princesses?" she asked.

Vena's expression was mixed between exasperation and disgust. "No, those are just corny," she said, shaking her head. "I just sing songs when I'm bored. I'd sing Lady Gaga if I was bored enough."

"Wow, that _is_ desperate," Rachel muttered.

Apollo raised his hands. "What's wrong with Lady Gaga?" he asked. "I know my grand-daughter has strange fashion sense, but come on!"

No one bothered to answer him. The wizards had no idea who Lady Gaga was, and the demigods weren't that surprised by the new detail.

"Never mind," Apollo said, shaking his head. He pointed his finger at Vena. "Can you believe that after all this time she still can't play a musical instrument to save her life?"

Vena blushed. "Hey!"

"No really," he insisted. "You spend time in Beethoven's head, Mozart, even _me_, and still, you don't know how to play a simple sting of notes on a piano or a lyre."

Vena looked like she wanted to kick him where the sun didn't shine. "You're lucky you're cute," she muttered. He grinned at her.

Perce looked back and forth between them. "Are you two an item?" he asked.

The two immortal blushed like smitten teenagers. "Not the point," Vena said, looking away from Apollo. She ran of the conversation in her head and tried not to focus on the jumbled thoughts of the readers. "I think I've said enough of my past history. I think there's a bigger question at hand. Anyone wants to ask it?"

There was a long moment of silence.

Then Ginny cleared her throat. "What are we really doing here?" she asked. "I don't think you just wanted some company. We wouldn't be reading about our past if that was the idea."

Vena nodded at her. "Well, I know you've all been through a lot in the past few weeks back at your own homes, so I'll make this simple," she said. "You all need to learn about each other, both the past and the present. There will come a day when your worlds will collide, and your people will be confused; scared; they will need someone to guide them, and help understand. Who better, than the people they trust?"

She looked at Harry and Percy. "The Boy Who Lived and Hero of Olympus." She smiled. "They look up to you. The point of this is so you'd understand both sides; that way, when the time comes, you can introduce two worlds together."

"And why are the rest of us here?" Travis asked.

Vena smiled secretively. "Oh, like I may have said earlier, I've taken care of people who have a hand in the world's future. It's necessary for you to be here as well."

"What about those whom you did not visit?" Conner asked.

"If they're here, I think that answers the question, Con," Travis said, nudging him in the arm with his elbow.

Apollo's phone rang off, with _Viva la Vida_, by Coldplay.

"One minute," he said, standing up and answering the phone. "This is Apollo, god of awesome, how may I help you?" he asked teasingly as he pacing around the table.

Vena smacked her hand against the side of her face and sighed as the demigods cracked up.

"Oh, hey little sister," Apollo said, grinning.

Almost everyone could hear Artemis snap from the other side of the phone, "_APOLLO!_"

Thalia hid a smile.

"What?" Apollo asked innocently. There was small pause. "Okay, okay, what is it? Mhmm… mhmm… really? When did he do that? … Well, Ares wasn't the brightest." Percy snorted. "Ah, okay, I'll be down in a minute. Tell Hermes to—she did _what_ to him? Why'd she do _that_? Where's Hermes?" Apollo winced. "Okay, tell Aphrodite to sit down until I get there, and for gods' sakes, tell Demeter to shut up. Okay, okay, bye."

Apollo hung up and looked at the others sheepishly.

"Um, I have to go," he said.

Vena nodded. "Yep, Ares bleeding from behind the left ear and his collarbone, and Hermes broke three ribs, not two like Hera said."

"Thanks," Apollo said. "Wait, how long have you—never mind." He looked at others. "I'll be back soon, I guess. See ya."

With a flash of light, he was gone. The readers were left alone with Vena now.

The daughter of Chaos looked at them all cheerfully. "So, what do you want for lunch?"

* * *

**Okay, so it's been another long while. School has started again and the main reason I didn't update on Friday was because of my school retreat.**

**I meant to finish this up a long time ago. It's all wibbly-wobbly to me, so I'm sorry if lots of it doesn't make sense. This chapter was just Vena's introduction and immediate back-story. It's not everything. There is a lot more to be said, but later on in the story.**

**Now, right now, I'm sick. I spent an entire weekend with my classmates at bible camp for our school retreat, and I got to room with good friends, but for the first night, the boys were being stupid. They went outside our windows and made ghoul noises to try and scare. The most they got out of it were swear words and water spraying. And I had to wear a dress. Not my favorite part (at least it was purple), but the entire banquet was quite good, though I wanted to die when they showed our freshman year photos. I looked so—I don't want to talk about it.**

**On the final day I got into an accident and scraped my knee pretty badly. It ripped out quite a bit of skin. I've learned my lesson about running too fast. Anyway, other than that and the slightly flu, I'm feeling a whole lot better. I decided to try and finish this all up and work on the next chapter as soon as possible. I've already started on it this time. I really hate myself for making you guys wait long, honestly.**

**~o~**

**I'm sure I'll won't be able to answer everyone's questions. There are over forty reviews and that would be very long.**

**1. Sea of Monsters chapters will not be separate from The Lightning Thief. I'm NOT doing PJ then HP and then PJ again. I thought I made that clear before.**

**2. The chess game between Ron and Annabeth will come up soon, but I'm not sure when. Who do you want to win? I've already decided, but I'm just asking.**

**3. Nico is called Nick in my future version. That won't be answered now, but lots can change over the years. Maybe it was a nickname that caught on.**

**4. I am doing the Demigod Files, between BotL and TLO chapters.**

**5. People keep asking if Percy is going to be betrayed. It's not exactly like that, but where Nick di Angelo was in the future was so far away from where Percy is now that a lot has changed for him. I guess I made Annabeth a bit obvious, but she doesn't become a villain, rest assured. She's still a good guy.**

**6. Percy doesn't die. Why do people keep asking me that? When did I say he was going to die?  
**

**~o~**

**To Percabeth Lorien: The story title isn't going to change. TLT and SOM are going under this one heading. I saw ****_The Hobbit_****. I absolutely loved it and I was totally disappointed when it had to end. I've only read have of ****_The Two Towers_****. I still haven't read all the books. Trying to read Frodo's part put me to sleep. I still like ****_the Hunger_**** Games, but I think I love ****_Divergent_**** more. I'm either an Erudite or a Candor. I'm not sure, but it's either one. Just out of curiosity, which faction would you want to be in? I've decided that I'm only going to read ****_The Mortal Instruments_**** when I'm doing with school. I have enough books to deal with right now.**

**To Annabeth Granger: Hi again. I've seen longer reviews, and most of those weren't for my story; sometimes I lose track when they're too long, and this was just fine. I need to keep this short at the moment, but I'll answer as much as I can. I'd say I'm a bit more of a Potterhead than a Half-blood, mostly because I'm been a Potterhead since I was eleven. I'm seventeen now, in my senior year at school. In canon, I'm Team Percabeth, Team Romione, Team Hinny, and so on. For Non-canon, I'm Team Nuna and Team Thalico. I don't ship Perachel. That never made much sense to me. I'm still learning Greek mythology. A friend got me into the whole world, and I can't get out. I don't live in the USA. I live in the Caribbean. And I'd definitely consider you as a friend. As quote to the Doctor, I haven't met anyone who wasn't important—virtual or not.**

**~o~**

**That's all for now. If I missed anything, just ask. Bye.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	31. Through the Corridors

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

**First note, this chapter is sort of boring. I had a horrible writer's block while doing it, so if you fall asleep on it halfway, I don't blame you at all. It's not actually very eventful. You've been warned. The next one's bound to be a little more interesting. I'm halfway through with it. I want it up by Friday, tops.**

**It's still going to be a while before I get to the reading chapters. Maybe two more chapters on average. The Sea of Monsters will be running along the same line with The Lightning Thief, if anyone wanted to ask.**

**Again.**

**Oh, and a bit of a warning for you here. It took me a while to write up all of this and mostly my different moods bring different styles to it. I'm sorry if it's all a bit confusing…**

**Song of the chapter: Florence and the Machine – Strangeness and Charm.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty One**

**Through the Corridors**

* * *

"Haven't people realized we've disappeared?" Ginny asked as she watched pots and pans levitate around the room.

Vena was sitting at the table with them, calling instructions to the cooking utensils and ingredients. Everyone at the table was allowed their own order, but they had no idea which pot or pan contained their food. Vena had finished of the Prasad, and was now calmly watching the clock over one of the refrigerators.

"Oh, no," Vena said. "As far as anyone knows, you're still at home. I told you this place is made out of Chaotic Matter. That includes time. I'm limited, though. Time is not my domain."

"What does time have to do with this?" Harry asked.

Vena directed one of the pans to the sink. "Well, I think you all have noticed that you belong to two different decades," she pointed out. "Here, I can gain access to the past times and, in a sense, pull you out of it. However, I need my father to do it, otherwise, I might pull you into a time void and you could be lost forever."

Grover gulped. "Oh, doesn't that sound nice," he said, disgruntled.

Vena chuckled. "I didn't mean to put it like that," she said smoothly. "The past is a fixed element. It can't be changed. Only Chaos has the power to bring a person from it and it took me a long time to convince him to bring you all here. You see, to bring one person from the past, I had to bring another from their future. It evens out the structure. Don't ask me how. You'll get a headache."

She pointed to the demigods.

"I chose a certain amount of people to come here," she said. "To even one group out, I had to bring it the same number from the other group. Now, my father won't allow me to bring anyone else either side until he is sure that you all are stable here as it is. Adding more people might cause problems."

"And how does that explain the fact that no one is going to realize that we're missing?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, that's because you're still there," Vena said. She looked at the pots and pans. "Would you like me to show you now, or when you're doing eating?"

"Uh, done eating," Conner spoke up. "I'm starving."

"I'd prefer now, but I agree with you Conner," Ron said, staring at the pots and pans floating around the kitchen.

"How?" Rachel asked. "You both ate a large breakfast. And you snacked on a lot of sandwiches through reading."

"So?" Travis shrugged. "We're growing guys. We need food."

Hermione looked at Vena. "So what year is it on Star?" she asked. Are you from our time, or theirs?" she pointed at the demigods.

"Oh, 2009, like them," Vena replied, jabbing her thumb towards the demigods. "But the information on Star goes all the way to 2013, via books and TV shows; even music."

"I wonder what we're like now," Neville spoke up. "Or are we all missing in this decade?"

Vena shook her head. "No, you're not," she replied. "Chaos has the ability to take you out of your time-zone. When we're done here, you all go back the second after you disappeared. It's like you never left. I'll show you after you eat."

The still-preparing food danced above their heads, weaving in and out of each other in a strange yet soothing motion. It was a good distraction for a while, but eventually, the demigods started to get bored.

"I hear you all have your little challenges set up," Vena said after a while. "A Chess Play-Off and a Dueling Practice... When do you plan to have that?"

Ron's eyes widened. "I almost forgot about that," he admitted. He looked at Annabeth. "Did you remember?"

She smiled. "Like I'd forget," she replied competitively.

"Yeah, and we wanted to see what sort of fighting skills that lot has," George said, pointing his finger at the demigods. "Mind you, using blades alone doesn't seem that impressive."

"Hey, you haven't even seen our moves yet," Travis said challengingly. "Besides, what on earth can you do with a little stick?"

George's eye narrows. "Oh, it's on," he muttered. Ginny giggled from the little interaction.

Harry rapped his fingers against the table. One of the cups hovered next to his face, filled with water. He blinked in surprise.

"How'd it know I was thirsty?" he asked, accepting the water.

Vena smiled. "I can hear thoughts, remember?" she reminded him. "I heard you."

"Well, thank you," he replied, taking a sip of water. "So why did you wait this long to talk to us?"

"I needed to know that you all were comfortable with each other first," Vena replied. "I haven't done something like this before, and it's a known fact to the gods that when two worlds who don't usually agree collide… well, it doesn't always turn out well. The last two groups were… let's just say that the gods had to tear them apart to keep them safe."

Perce tapped his cup filled with pumpkin juice. "And those were?"

"The Greeks and the Romans," Vena replied smoothly. "They had the gods under turmoil for centuries. They had to put a stop to it eventually."

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

"Story for later," Vena said, standing up and walking over to the refrigerator that held the drinks. "It doesn't really concern us now, to be honest. What we're dealing with now is the Greeks and Wizarding kind."

"And how are we connected?" Hermione asked.

"You'll find out in time, Hermione," Vena replied kindly, taking out chocolate milk to drink from the refrigerator. "Too much information at once can cause a bit of an overload. I would know." She tapped her own head and sat back down next to Luna.

"Your lunches are almost ready," she announced. "There will just be a few more minutes."

Rachel rubbed the side of her head. "How big is this place?" she asked. "I mean, some of the artwork we've seen in here is pretty fantastic."

Vena grinned. "Oh yes," she agreed. "Those have been stored in here from over the eons. There are statues and paintings that artists, over the years, have dismissed in their own creations. Naturally, I keep them here. Some go to Olympus."

"Have you done any yourself?" Nico asked. "I remember you liked to paint."

"Yeah," Travis added, perking up. "You taught me to paint water reflection. I remember that."

Vena nodded her head. "Most of them look closer to Vincent van Gogh's paintings lately. I miss Vincent. He had a marvelous imagination. It was a shame how depressed he got in him final years, but I liked him."

"Who's Vincent van Gogh?" Neville asked.

"A muggle painter," Luna spoke up. "Mommy used to show me photos of his work. They were very nice."

Annabeth studied Vena's eyes. They were pretty, but very odd. There was no pupil or proper iris; just a circle filled with tiny dots like stars. A small tingling crawled down the back of her neck. Something about the Primordial just repelled her.

Vena glanced at Annabeth and then at the pots and pans. "Lunch's ready," she announced as the food settled on the table. "I'm afraid you'll have to go get your own plates. Your legs will go numb without exercise."

There was some grumbling on the Stolls' part, but eventually, everyone collected a plate to eat on. By the time they had returned, Vena had earphones on with a tablet computer in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

Vena looked up. "Doing work from this," she said, holding up the tablet. "Most gods do it these days."

"What work? George asked, puzzled.

"Monitoring stars and planets, herding supernovas, emailing friends," Vena said absently. "Stuff like that." She giggled at something on her tablet. "I'm adding Facebook to the mix. Seriously, Iris, you can't post that! Zeus will have a fit!"

"What fit?" Harry asked.

"Old picture of Zeus from the 40s," Vena giggled. "Oh, I'm posting it on Affie's wall. One minute."

"Affie?" Neville questioned.

"Aphrodite."

"Oh."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You guys are on Facebook?" she asked with disbelief.

"Well, actually, we call it Olympian Chat," Vena replied absently. "Almost all the gods are on it. It's easier to communicate this way. Hermes gets a break from delivering letters all the time."

Conner stared and then looked down at his plate. "I did not know that," he muttered.

Vena looked up at him and then turned back to the tablet, typed something, and then held it in her palm. Before their eyes, it shrunk down to the size of a cellphone, allowing Vena to stuff it in her pocket.

"So," she said, "eat up. You have a long day ahead."

Everyone exchanged looks. "What are we doing today?" Harry asked.

They waited for an answer. Vena took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to show you around this place, and in the process, answer more of your questions. I know they are far from done.

**~o~**

After they finished eating, everyone went over to the refrigerators to collect a bottle of their favorite drink to accompany them with a tour through Star. Vena was standing by the kitchen map, watching as the corridors slowly grew and contracted, changing before her eyes with Chaotic Matter.

Harry went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Butterbeer, but as he turned around, he bumped into Ginny. The collision threw the bottle from his hand up into the air.

"Ah!" Harry gasped, trying to catch it before it fell, but for some reason, it didn't even come back down. In fact, it disappeared completely.

"Where'd it go?" Ginny asked, looking around.

"Uh, I don't know," Harry replied. He glanced at her. "Uh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

Ginny nodded awkwardly. "That's okay," she said. "No harm done, really."

They stood together, unsure of what to say, and then someone coughed from behind them. They looked around to see Conner, waving the bottle of Butterbeer at them. "Who does this belong to?" he asked.

"That's—mine," Harry said, startled to find the son of Hermes behind him. "Uh, how—how did you get that?"

Conner smirked and walked past him to the refrigerator. "Travis! Do you want chocolate or peanut?"

"Peanut!"

"Okay!" Conner replied, pulling out a bottle of chocolate milk and bottle of a peanut punch to drink from the refrigerator and uncorked the chocolate milk. He looked at the bemused witch and wizard. "Next time, watch where you're going." He sipped on his drink and walked away.

Harry glanced at Ginny; she was studying Conner's retreating figure. Feeling a bit jealous, though he knew he had no reason to, cleared his throat, regaining her attention.

"You wanted anything?" he asked, indicating to the refrigerator.

She blinked. "A Butterbeer, thanks," she replied. Harry reached back into the refrigerator and took out a cold bottle for her.

"Here you go," he said, handing her the bottle.

Ginny smiled. "Thanks, Harry," she said softly. She turned when Thalia called her over and walked towards her. Harry watched her go, and finally smiled. At least she smiled at him. That was a start. He walked towards Ron and Neville, and was unaware that Ginny had turned to look at him.

Meanwhile, Percy was standing with Annabeth. She had detached herself from the rest of the group to stand next to large window, looking out at the colorful sky. Today, it was mint green and baby blue.

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Percy asked, sipping on his bottle water. "You've been quiet for a while now."

Annabeth shook her head. "I'm not sure," she replied softly. "I think it's Vena… Something's not right."

Consciously, Percy tensed and glanced at the Primordial. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I know she's suspicious, Annabeth…."

Annabeth shook her head. "That's not all," she said. "I have a feeling I should stay away from her."

"You?" Percy frowned and leaned closer to Annabeth. "You alone, or all of us?"

Annabeth sighed. "That's the thing. I—" she gulped and looked into his eyes. "I don't know."

"Hey, you Lovebirds!" Travis called, waving them over. "Do you mind leaving that for later? This is a kitchen!" Conner snorted at his brother's comment.

Percy turned his head to glare at Travis, but then Vena cleared her throat.

"Where do you want to go first?" she asked, indicating to the map on the wall. "It's changing fast, so think quick."

**~o~**

"So, how does this place know how to renovate itself?" Hermione asked as they walked down one of the vast corridors. The walls were white and the curtains were gold. The carpet was a dark, velvety red. It seemed almost a crime to walk on it.

"Chaotic Matter," Vena replied. "It's an element of creation and destruction. It contributes to nebula, the very gas needed to create stars and planets."

They passed a statue of a merman, welding a sword in his hand. "How old is this?" Rachel asked.

Vena studied it for a moment. "Let's see… I got this near the end of the Roman era. It's quite old."

Harry looked at the expensive-looking curtains. "You said that you took care of us as children, but we don't remember," he reminded her. "Well, most of us don't." He glanced at Nico and the Stolls.

Vena smiled. "I was wondering when you'd get back to that," she said cheerful. "Such thoughts tend to stick in your head quite a lot don't they, Mr. Potter?"

Harry's cheeks turned light pink. "Well, I have every right to ask," he insisted.

"That you do," Vena agreed. "Okay, if you want me to tell you, I will. Wizards first." She stopped and looked at the rest of them. "The first person I met from all of you was Harry." She smiled at him. "I used to babysit you when you were a toddler."

Harry stopped walking. "Really?" he asked in surprise.

Vena nodded. "I went with an atrociously cheap paying price so the Dursleys wouldn't change sitters," she admitted. "Not that they cared. They were always so eager to get you out of the house and away from their precious Dudley."

Harry made a sound between a snort and a sigh. "It sounds like Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia," he muttered. "I guess as a baby, I wouldn't have remembered?"

Vena shook her head. "When you started school, they stopped letting me take care of you," she said. "After that, well, I had to leave you to sort out for yourself, because your magic was starting to expand."

"What about us?" Ginny asked, indicating to herself and her siblings.

"Oh, that was a brief visit in Diagon Alley, I think," Vena said. "You were there to shop for Bill's school items. It was his first year at Hogwarts, and once you were in the bookstore, your brothers all ran in different directions when a tower of books fell and frightened them."

Percy Weasley stopped walking. "I remember that," he said. "Bill managed to find Charlie and myself within minutes, and Dad got George." He almost added Fred's name to the list, but when he glanced at his brother, he realized that wasn't going to be too wise. "Ginny was with Mum. We couldn't find Ron."

Ron groaned. "Oh, typical me," he muttered. "I always got lost in bookstore when I was a kid."

"Probably trying to find your way out," Ginny teased. "Books must have given you nightmares."

Ron scowled as Hermione giggled. "Very funny, Ginny," he snapped.

"Anyway, Ron had made it to the streets and he almost went down into Knockturn Alley—" Ron's siblings all turned to look at him in surprise, "—and that wouldn't have been good. I simply helped him back into the bookstore to his parents. I didn't have much to do with you all then, so I left."

"Knockturn Alley!" Perce exclaimed, turning an eye on his brother. "Why would you even leave the store without our parents, Ronald?"

Ron shrugged in dismay. "How should I know? I don't even remember it!"

Vena started walking down the corridor again and turned left. "Are you all just going to stand there?" she asked before moving on. The demigods went after her, and after they shook off their shock, the wizards went too.

"Knockturn Alley? Of all places," Hermione muttered to herself.

The next corridor was a bit darker. The walls were navy blue with little silver and gold dots in it, like stars.

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked.

"We're just passing through," Vena said. "This is the Astronomy Hall, a link to the many galaxies in this universe. It's the best place to see unknown stars, planets, beautiful constellations. You get the idea. This is the place where I inspect the universe my father created."

Luna drifted away from the group towards a white door with a golden sun painted on the front. Under it was the word "Sol."

"You can go in, if you like," Vena said. "Just don't touch anything."

"What's in there?" Thalia asked, walking up behind Luna and gazing at the room suspiciously.

"See for yourself."

Thalia glanced at Vena and then reached her hand forward for the doorknob. She turned it and pushed the door wide open, only to reveal darkness. Thalia looked ahead and her jaw dropped.

"No—way!" she gasped. Luna looked inside as well and her eyes widened.

"This looks like a room at the Ministry," she said softly. "Department—"

"Department of Mysteries?" Harry finished for her. He walked forwards and when he saw what was inside, he turned to Vena. She smiled at the three of them and walked into the room. They followed her.

"Hey, wait for us!" Rachel exclaimed, running in after them. Grover hurried to follow her, as did Nico and Stolls. Soon, everyone was running into the room.

They all froze when they saw what was inside.

Grover was the first to speak. "It's the Solar System," he choked out.

Right before them was an enormous room, which to the demigods was the size of the Olympian throne room. The Solar System wasn't the same size as the real one; everything in here was miniaturized, but they were still quite enormous.

Burning in the very center of the room was the sun, as bright as it was on any sunny day of the week. They could feel its heat like it was actually there. Orbs of various sizes orbited around it, just like it did out in space. The entire background was a velvety pitch black canvas with the constellations that could be seen in the night sky from earth.

"How is that possible?" Annabeth asked softly.

"Star creates miniature versions to actual planetary formats and alignments," Vena explained as she walked around Neptune. "The duplicates mirror what actually happens to the actual planets. Look." She pointed as what appeared to be several little burning rocks zoomed out of nowhere."

"Meteors," Hermione muttered. She watched as they collided into Jupiter and disappeared. "Did that just happen—?"

"—to the _real_ planet?" Vena finished. "Yes, it did. They burnt up as they entered Jupiter."

"Whoa! Look at Jupiter's moons!" Rachel exclaimed. "There's Io! Ganymede! And Callisto! And Europa over there!"

"Why do these always get named after Greek and Roman stuff?" Conner asked, disgruntled. "When you name them like that, they confuse me!"

"Plus, their named after various lovers of my dad," Thalia said, scowling. She folded her arms and walked away from the miniature planet.

'_Who is Jupiter to the Romans_,' Vena thought to herself. "Well, just don't touch any of them. You might push a planet out of balance and gods know we don't need an imbalance right now."

Percy walked up to a little silvery planet as big as his torso in comparison to most of the others. It was tiny compared to the miniature moon, which was four times the size of a basketball.

"What's this one called?" he asked, pointing at it.

Vena looked at it and said, "That's Ceres, named after a goddess. It's a dwarf planet."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Series? Who on earth is named Series?"

Travis snorted. "I think that's what the Romans called Demeter." Everyone looked at him and he blushed. "Hey, I like pranking the Demeter cabin. I make it my business to know about them so they don't turn the tables!"

Ron gaped at the moons orbiting Jupiter, and then turned to stare at Saturn, which wouldn't have been quite smaller than Jupiter without its rings intact, but it was still colossal at the same time.

"Wicked," he whispered. "Astronomy class never showed anything like this!"

"You're telling me," George agreed.

Vena walked up to Luna, who was staring at the earth. The clouds visibly moved around under the ozone layer, which remained invisible to the naked eye.

"It's beautiful," Luna stated, turning a wide eye towards Vena.

"Yes, it is," Vena agreed. "Your mother, Aldora, was quite fascinated with the subject of Astronomy. It was her best subject as Hogwarts next to Potions and Charms."

Luna nodded. "I know. Daddy told me."

Vena walked in a circle around the moon. "She was in interesting mind to listen to," she finally admitted. "Not many wizards grasp my attention the way she did. She had a more—intellectual view of the world, both magical and mortal. I believe she passed that on to you." Vena smiled at Luna.

**~o~**

Thalia stared at the earth for a long while. Eventually, she said, "Is it just me, or does Europe itself look a bit like a dinosaur?"

Neville walked up and squinted at the bird's eye view. "Where do you get that idea?" he asked skeptically.

Thalia shrugged and started to point out different places. "Well, the place where Spain, France and Italy joins up looks a bit like the mouth and the rest is the body. It's kind of like a T-rex."

Neville stared and then said, "I don't see it," he declared.

Luna walked over to the two of them, having finished talking with Vena. She was smiling to herself as she examined Asia with Thalia. Neville noted that she seemed quite pleased about something.

'_Neville, may I have a word_?' Vena voice rang out in Neville's mind. He jumped in his own skin and turned around. Vena was standing near Neptune with Percy.

As discreetly as he could, Neville dispatched himself away from Thalia and Luna and walked across the inky black floor of the room. He gazed at the constellations in the sky. He could remember a few that Hannah Abbott had pointed out to him when they were still at Hogwarts under Snape's headship: _Canis Major_, _Orion_, _Sagittarius_—he let his eye wander back to his friends, who were still walking around the planets, studying the sun from a distance, and even talking about the stars in general.

He almost didn't realize how close he'd gotten to Vena until he almost bumped into her.

"Oh, careful," she said cheerful, grabbing his arm so he wouldn't fall over. "You wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

Neville blushed and he stood upright. He looked around. Percy had gone to the other side of the planet Neptune, so he didn't see. They were almost hidden from view of the others behind Neptune. Vena looked at Neville.

"Thank you," he said. Then he frowned. "Um, why did you call me over here? You _did_ call me over, right?"

Vena nodded. "Mental communication has always been my best power," she admitted. "I practice it more than the gods themselves."

"And why's that?"

"They don't always appreciate someone else in their heads," she said, shrugging. "It's been a factor in their lives for ages." She sighed. "It's why quite a variety of them don't like me. I'm always in their heads. They have no secrets from me. They _pretend_ to like me because of my status. It's no secret."

Neville raised an eyebrow. "How are you so calm in telling us all this?" he asked. "From what we read, the gods like to keep secrets."

"I'm not your typical immortal," Vena said. "I hear people's every whim and doubt. I suppose it's foolish, but I like to be as honest as allowed. After harboring centuries of secrets, information like this is very minor. There are worse secrets to have."

Neville folded his arms. "Oh," was all he said.

Vena tilted her head. "How's the book?" she asked suddenly. "_The Odyssey_. Between you and me, I admired Odysseus's brilliance in the war."

Neville was surprised by the change of subject. "Uh, good," he admitted. "A bit gory here and there, but I'm almost done with it." He took a deep breath. "I guess I shouldn't ask you how you know about that."

The Guide chuckled and shook her head. "No, but I do know when someone's reading when other's aren't," she explained. "When everyone else is dozing off, I hear your voice reciting the texts. That's good. At least you will understand Percy's next quest better."

Neville was surprised. "Wait, some of the _Odyssey_ is in Percy's next book?"

Vena nodded. "You can help your friends understand," she said. "It'd be nice for your side to know something for a change. Both groups seem to have the intent to make the other sit in suspense."

Neville noted the number of times to demigods said, "You'll see," and "Wait a few more minutes/chapters." Suspense seemed more like irritation to him.

Vena cleared her throat. "Okay, everyone, we're spent enough time in here!" she announced. "There's more to see in this mansion. You can either ogle here, or see something more interesting."

**~o~**

The next corridor they ventured into was white and gold. It was a familiar place to them.

"Oh, look, it's the statues of the Erotes again," George said, pointing towards the cluster of statues that Annabeth had pointed out to them the last time they had ventured down the corridors together. "What was his name again? Erons?"

Vena snorted and then straightened her face when George looked at her. "Eros," she corrected. "And there was something else I wanted to show you. This way."

Annabeth bit her lip. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Outside," Vena replied. "It would take days to show you this entire place. I'm currently making certain renovations for you all. You can't possible read every single day. The ADHD in the demigods would eventually crack open."

Nico grinned. "Oh, so you've noticed," he joked. Vena smiled at him.

"What kind of renovations?" Annabeth asked. "It's nothing bad, right?"

Vena shook her head. "No, just something you all might enjoy," she said. "A reminder of earth, so to speak."

She didn't specify what she meant as she turned another corner.

"Does anyone have a bad feeling about this?" Annabeth asked the rest of the group.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked. "Do you have a bad feeling?"

"About her," Annabeth said, "Something's not right."

"You know," everyone looked up to see Vena leaning against the wall. "I _can_ hear you. You don't have to try and keep it a secret." And with that, she walked off, leaving them to hurry after her.

'_Well, I just think that you can't be trust_,' Annabeth thought to herself.

"I know that, Annabeth," Vena said aloud. "You can blame your mother for that."

Annabeth almost stopped walking. "What about my mother?" she asked.

Vena shrugged and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "She doesn't like me much," she said. "Genetically, the same can be said for her children. You can say it was the same feeling they got about Poseidon's children. It's an instant distrust from parental loyalty."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "What did you do?" she asked, feeling a bit defensive of her mother.

Vena groaned internally and continued to walk away from the group. "Oh, why do people _always_ assumed that _I_ did something wrong?" she asked the corridor rhetorically, waving her hand in the air. "Zeus thought so, as did Demeter, Dionysus, Hera, even Ares and Enyo! All I did was _disagree_ with her! It wasn't _my_ fault her pride got in the way!"

Nico looked surprised. "Okay, what happened?"

Vena shook her head. "It's a long story. I'm not talking about it. It happened in Rome a long time ago." She sighed. '_Minerva always did get on my nerves_,' she thought to herself. '_She had a good reason, but it wasn't my fault_!'

"So—" Annabeth started, but Vena walked off into another corridor. By the time they got up to her, she has already reached the other end of the corridor. She stood near the window, looking outside. The sky was white and navy blue.

"Do you mind not disappearing like that?" Ron asked.

"I didn't disappear. I'm right here," Vena replied, turning her head to look back at him.

"Okay then," Ron said, looking out the window. "Can you explain how the sky changes like that? I still don't get it."

"The atmosphere is made of Nebula Mist," Vena said, sounding slightly bored now. "It changes according to this planet's alignment to the constellations." She looked at Ron. "Think of it as a color wheel that never stops moving."

A sudden lurch in the corridor started the reader group.

"What was that?" Rachel asked, holding on to George's arm for support.

"Chaotic Matter," Vena said calmly. "It does that when building. That's why it's best to go outside for a while. What do you think of gardens?"

A few people looked taken aback by the sudden change of topic.

"Are there any garden gnomes?" Ron asked at last.

"Not at all," Vena replied graciously.

"Then I'm good with it," Ron said cheerfully. "It'd be nice to go to one where you don't get bitten."

"Touché!" Ginny said, pretending to toast him with her Butterbeer. Her friends started to laugh.

**~o~**

Vena decided to use a shortcut.

By her terms of 'shortcut', she manipulated the Chaotic Matter to shift the distances between them and the nearest exit, because it would have taken a longer walk for them the usual way.

Vena sorted through the number of thoughts running through her mind, all courtesy of the readers. The one that bothered her the most was Annabeth. Their natural curiosity was sometimes a bloody nuisance for her. Hermione was able to rationalize her own thoughts, finding her own most logical answers in her head as soon as she thought of them.

"Are we there yet?" Conner asked after another moment of silence. "Honestly, I've walked more today than my time in Manhattan a few weeks ago."

As he spoke, a draft of cool air wafted in from the next corridor.

Vena waved her hand over to it. "See for yourself," she suggested. "We're here."

She almost grinned when she saw Conner's startled expression. He cleared his throat and walked passed her, not expecting to see anything spectacular, but when he did, his eyes widened and he walked back to Vena.

"Did I see that right?" he asked. She nodded. "Damn!" he exclaimed. He walked back towards the door. "How do you take care of that?" He didn't even wait for an answer. He ran outside.

"Take care of what?" Percy asked as Vena followed Conner. "Honestly, would it kill you answer the question?" Percy muttered to himself.

"Nope!" he heard Vena call out. "Come and see the garden!"

Curiosity won out in the end. One by one, each reader walked through the enormous double doors to meet a spectacular sight.

"No way," Rachel said, openly gaping without shame.

They were all standing to the entrance of a beautiful garden—if you could call it a garden. It's could have been a royal's backyard. The sky, mixed of navy and purple, set dark shadows off in every direction. The front stepped immediately led a long path towards the center of the garden, which caught the most attention. There was an oval-shaped fountain there, as big as a truck, with light gleaming off the white stone while water spewed upwards around ten feet high. The water glistened and sparkled, so unlike natural water that it had to be a different substance. Once the sight of the beautiful fountain began to settle in the readers' minds, their sight expanded to the rest of the garden.

There were statues ringing around the fountain. There were seven statues in Ancient Greek attire stationed on the left and six on right of the fountains, all featured with graceful poses, and so carefully painted that they looked lifelike to the naked eye. The only detail marking them as statues was the fact that there was careful ribbon-like detail grasping around their ankles, holding them down onto their pedestals.

And the garden itself was littered in dozens and dozens of beautiful and heavenly scented flowers. There were so many—too many to identify—but they were arranged in bouquets and attentive patterns. White flowers blossomed up between blue and red; splashes of yellow weaved themselves though purple and orange. Pink swayed together with white and green. Flowers that no one recognized mingled themselves in-between.

Travis chuckled when he saw a familiar face. "Oh, tell me that _isn't_ Mr. D!"

Sure enough, a statue of Dionysus in Ancient Greek attire sat the middle of mini-vineyard, where red and green grapes grew in plenty. Travis realized that further away from it was an entire vegetation patch with different vegetables growing so healthily that Demeter would faint from longing.

"And you have trees," Ginny added weakly, noting the variety of fruit trees present all around them. In total, the size of Vena's garden could have been at least five times the size of a Quidditch pitch.

"_This_—is a garden?" Ron asked in disbelief. "It's more like a farm-meets-flowery-explosion!"

"With a fountain," George stated.

"And statues," Annabeth added.

"And benches!" Conner exclaimed, running over to the nearest one, which sat before the fountain. "Ah! Finally, I can sit! My feet were starting to kill me!"

Vena laughed and shook her head. "Oh, that was the most interesting statement by far," she commented. "And yes, Ron, this is a garden. Star's garden, I might say."

Percy's eyes lingered over a familiar silvery flower that glowed between the white roses and the blue tulips.

"You have moonlace," he stated, staring at the sweet-smelling flower. "I haven't seen any for a while. I haven't been home yet."

Vena nodded. "Oh, yes, that's been growing here for centuries. Originally, Persephone created it as a birthday present for Artemis. It's found in very few places, mostly on the phantom island of O—"

"Ogygia, I know," Percy said. "I got some from there. My mother loves to tend to them."

Vena noticed a twinge of annoyance in Annabeth's expression. Annabeth was aware of whom Percy met in Ogygia, and even though they hadn't been an item yet, she had been a bit jealous.

Vena walked towards the fountain while the readers explored the rest of the garden.

"At least you don't have any garden gnomes," Ginny said cheerfully. "Those are a real pain in the a—"

"Ginny!" Percy Weasley exclaimed in disapproval.

"Yes?" Ginny asked, smiling innocently at him. Harry grinned from behind his bottle of Butterbeer. He missed seeing the old humor with her.

"Uh, Vena? Are these statues of the Olympians?" Nico asked as he approached the statues around the fountain, "Because this one looks like Percy's dad."

Percy ran over to Nico to see what he was looking at. "Whoa," he muttered. "He looks young!"

Percy meant that literally. Statue-Poseidon could have been made after the original's appearance in the early twenties. He wasn't as big and buff as Percy knew him to be now. His muscles were smoother; he had no beard; his hair curled around the sides of his face and was only long enough to meet his neck. He wore a knee-length blue robe that looked like it was patterned out of a fisher's net. In his right hand, his trident was shinier than the actual thing.

"He looks a lot like you, Percy," Nico stated. "It's eerie."

"Tell me about it," Percy muttered in surprise.

Harry walked up to the statues. "These are what the gods look like?" he asked, examining each one of them.

"It's only how like looked in their early years," Vena stated. "That was a very long time ago, when conflict amongst the gods was very small. None of them had gone beyond five hundred years, I think."

Annabeth smiled when she saw the statue of her mother. "Wait, Mom had curly hair?"

Athena stood on the right side of the fountain. She was in a white chiton that flowed all the way down to her ankles. The upper bodice had a thin, silvery breastplate that flowed beautifully with the sculptured-fabric, and Athena's black hair poured down over her shoulder in a curly cascade.

"So did Hades," Vena said. "Who can guess which one is him?

There was a long pause as everyone paused to look at the statues. The Stolls had paused at the one of their father wearing his tradition attire, with his caduceus in hand and his winged helmet on his head. The only difference to what they knew what that he was blond.

"Is it this one?" Rachel called out from nearby to Zeus's statue. Thalia had lingered there, wondering what happened to her father, because he looked a lot better without a beard. She turned her head away from his statue and looked at the statue Rachel had pointed out.

"I don't think so," she said. "That guy's actually handsome. He can't possibly be related to Nico."

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed in protest, ignoring the fits of laughter that erupted around him.

Thalia grinned mischievously. "I'm just saying he can't be your dad." Nico's disgruntled expression didn't change. "Oh, loosen up!" she added. "You'll get wrinkles."

Nico walked over to Rachel and looked up at the statue. His eyes widened. "You know; maybe Thalia's right. That's not dad."

Vena walked up behind him. "Really? It sure looks like him. Or preferably, the side he chose to shed years ago."

The statue before them portrayed a young man, beardless, with curly black hair that fell to his neck. His skin was olive, and he wore only black robes which actually gleamed brown in the light. His face was haughty but handsome. His eyes weren't maniacal; on the contrary, they seemed peaceful but stern. He looked nothing to how anyone had seen Hades in the present. His skin wasn't milky and he didn't look like he could be a serial-killer. He seemed to be the most attractive of the brothers.

"He actually looks—nice," Rachel commented, not really wanting to say what she really thought about the god of the dead. "How old was he?"

"Very young," Vena stated, not bothering to give an exact number. "This was made around the first few decades into his reign as the ruler of the Underworld. Life was easier then. You can say that how he looks now reflects the hardship he's been through."

Hermione paced her eyes back and forth between the statue and Nico. "Hmm… Well, Nico _does_ look a _bit_ like him."

Conner snorted. "Well, isn't that a creepy 'Mini-Me'," he commented.

"Hey!" Nico didn't look so pleased with the teasing.

"Vena!" they heard Neville call. "What are these?"

Vena turned around and sighed. Neville was with Luna, George, and Grover by the side of the fountain that hid the Family Statues.

Annabeth ran up to see what he was talking about and her eyes widened. "These aren't the Olympians," she said.

"No, they're not," Vena said coolly. "These are my siblings. We're the Protogenoi."

"The what?"

"It's our official name besides Primordials."

There were six statues standing before them, all posed with their heads turned to the right. The first was of a beautiful woman with long black hair with eyes that changed between green and black. There were flecks of dirt on her dark green dress and on her skin, and her expression was dreamlike.

"This is Gaea," Vena said, biting her lip to hold back frustration. "She's my least favorite sister."

The next one was of only a hooded figure who wore only black robes. No one could see a face.

"This is Tartarus, my most hated brother," Vena added, trying not to get edgy. "I prefer not to look at him."

George shuddered. "I can see why," he said. "He reminds me of Dementors."

"You don't get along, then?" Grover asked.

"Of course not," Vena said coldly. "The last time I met him, he tried to kill me."

"Is that possible?" Thalia asked, startled.

Vena shook her head. "It doesn't mean he didn't like to try. Mostly, he doesn't take on such a physical form. He's usually the abyss in the Underworld, but when Mother created him, this is what he preferred to look like."

Nico glanced at the next one. "I take it that that one's Erebus?"

The statue next to Tartarus was of another cloaked figure, except that there was dark mist swirling all around him.

"Yes," Vena replied. "We get along on better terms. And the one after him is Nyx."

The statue they all turned to look at was of a woman in a black dress, dotted with stars. It reminded Nico of Vena's galaxy eyes. Her face was hooded, but her skin was visible, pale as snow.

"Oh, they were the darker ones," Vena commented, pointing to Tartarus, Erebus, and Nyx. "They like to keep their faces hidden, for mystery."

"And to creep us out," Travis added, shuddering.

"Who's pretty boy then?" Thalia asked, jabbing her thumb at the next one.

Vena's eyes brightened. "That's Eros," she said, "The original Eros, anyways."

It was so difficult to tell who Eros really looked like. The girls were affected a whole lot more than the boys; they kept seeing the guys that they were attracted to, even if it was on a minor level. Hermione saw Ron; Annabeth saw Percy; Ginny saw Harry, which made her blush. Luna was surprised to see Rolf Scamander, a Hufflepuff in her year. He was good friend of hers, but she didn't expect to see him on Eros. Thalia and Rachel were the only ones who could see Eros for who he was.

"His eyes are pink," Thalia commented, grimacing. "That's unnatural."

The minute she spoke, the glamor vanished, and everyone could see what he really looked like. Eros was still beautiful, but now in a completely inhuman way. His skin was ivory, as was his hair. His eyes were a shade of red that glowed pink. His facial features were perfectly even and striking, and his body was robed in a white tunic. His wings were gold.

"That doesn't really look like the statue inside," Ginny commented. As she watched, the image started to morph again and Eros took on Harry's eyes and hair. "Why does it seem to shift?"

"That's what Eros did," Vena explained. "_'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder_.' It's a quote he still lives by, as well does Aphrodite. He was created in such a way that his power could get inside your head and his appear would take the shape of the person who attracted the viewer. That's why his original features seemed a bit plain—handsome, but plain. It's like painting on canvas. You need a clean surface."

"What about his eyes?" Hermione pointed out.

"That was the origin of his power," Vena answered.

"Why do you speak in past tense?" Luna asked curiously. "Did it change?"

"Yes." Vena sighed. "Eros began to fade many years ago, in a time where love amongst immortals and mortals was starting to wane. He was good friends with Aphrodite, who was more pure with her love. You could say he was more—intimate. When she realized what was happening to him, she wanted to help."

Vena ran her hand through her hair. "Some sources say that Eros was a Primordial, and others say he was the son of Aphrodite. The unofficial record was confusing for some, so it was never published, but in Eros's last moments before his immortal spirit was taken by Tartarus, Aphrodite took his heart and put it in her womb. I know," she added when she saw the looks on everyone's faces. "It sounds odd. But it was a rebirth for him. He was born again as a different Eros, one who was minor god than a Protogenoi, but alive nonetheless."

Ron stared in incredulity. "Can I just say that the Greek gods have the barmiest family tree in the recording of history? Because blimey, that's messed up."

"You could say that again," George muttered in agreement.

Vena glanced at the next statue and said, "There's something I'd like to show you all in the fountain. This way."

Annabeth glanced at the last one. "So, what about that one?" she asked, trying not to smirk. "You don't like your own statue?"

Vena blushed. "If you want to look at it, go ahead, but I'm going by the fountain." She walked off.

"She looks younger," Luna commented. "And happier."

Vena's statue had different changes to what everyone saw in the woman by the fountain. Her curly hair and pulled back, a shade closer to gold than bronze, and her eyes were and childlike. She could have been at least fifteen years old in appearance. Annabeth noted that the appearance of this Vena seemed harmless, while the appearance of the real one made her edgy.

"I think you've all gawked at me enough, thanks," Vena called over to them.

"You really don't like it when people look at you, huh?" remarked Conner as he turned to look at her.

"It's not that," Vena replied. "It's what they think when they see me that annoys me. Some can't stop staring. Others can't stop thinking insults. It gets tiresome."

"Insults?" Annabeth asked.

Vena shook her head. "No immortal has a clean record, dear," she said. "If we were ever to get any more immortals, the cycle would NEVER change."

'_That means some of you have a price to pay_,' Vena thought to herself sadly. '_One day_…'

She leaned down and blew over a tiny portion of the fountain water. It started to bubble in gleaming indigo, spreading across the iridescent surface.

The sight attracted everyone's attention. One by one, they cautiously approached the fountain and looked down. The sight surprised them.

_**Vena, who was wearing a dark green dress, sat on a chair next to a little boy wearing black. He was holding a pencil in his hand, trying to write.**_

"_**Cat," Vena said, "C-A-T... Gatto. G-A-T-T-O… Gáta. G-A-T-A… And remember the accent I taught you on the first 'A' of gáta."**_

"_**Si, Miss Vena," the little boy said. **__**"Cat… C…A…T… Gatto… G-A-T-T-O… **__**Gáta… G-A-T-A… Accent on top…" He spoke as he wrote out the words on a half-filled sheet of paper.**_

"_**Excellent, Nick," Vena said. She looked over at the girl next to him. "Now, Bianca…"**_

"Wait," Thalia said, holding up her hand. "Is that—Nico, is that you?"

Nico gaped at the sight. "Uh… Yeah, it is. Vena was our governess…" he said. He looked up at Vena. "Are these—?"

"Memories? Of course. You all wanted to know when you'd encountered me. Here are some of them." Vena ran her hand over the image and it changed.

"_**Don't worry, Mrs. Dursley, he'll be back by evening,"**__**Vena said, holding a little boy with green eyes and messy hair. They were both dressed for chilly weather.**_

"_**Yes, good day Miss Aster," Petunia Dursley said rudely before shutting the door. Vena rolled her eyes and walked down the walk to the street.**_

"_**Oh, Harry, sometimes I wonder what your resilience is," she said as little Harry played with her hair. "No matter what they do, you always bounce back."**_

_**Harry smiled at her, showing off his growing teeth.**_

"Aw," Hermione cooed.

"Hermione, don't!" Harry pleaded, embarrassed. His friends started chuckling.

"_**I think it's in your blood," Vena said, smiling at him. "Your ancestors were always resilient." She stopped. "Don't tell your auntie that I said that." Harry nodded, still smiling.**_

"_**Well, look at you, almost blowing your cover. Bad strategy, I'd say."**_

_**Vena looked around to see a young but buff man leaning against a motorcycle. His hair was short and he wore shades with two little spheres burning from behind.**_

"Is that Ares?" Ginny asked in disbelief. "What's he doing there?"

_**Past Vena sighed. "Hello, Mars. What are you doing here?" she asked.**_

"Mars?" Thalia asked.

"Long story; and I'm not going into it."

"_**That favor I asked you," he said. "It's due today."**_

"_**I know, M, and I'll have it to you by this afternoon, but I have to look after Harry now."**_

_**The god of war looked at the little boy. Harry looked back at him.**_

"_**Oh, him," he said. "I see. Well, time's ticking. I want to get around to watching another War Game."**_

"_**Don't say that around Harry," Vena said.**_

"_**What, we all know he has to fight his battles soon. Might as well get used to it."**_

"_**Not now, you big brute... He's just a kid."**_

Vena waved her hand over the image and it changed.

"Wait. What were you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Past business, Hermione," Vena said. "It doesn't mean anything now."

The sound of a little boys caught their attention.

"_**Vanessa! Vanessa!" Little Conner called out as he ran through the halls of the house. "Travie icky stuff fall!"**_

Everyone around the fountain started to laugh as the present Conner began blushing like a fool.

"Oh crap," he muttered.

"_**What?" 'Vanessa' walked into the hall to see Conner standing in front of her with splashes of paint all over his clothes and skin. "Oh no, not again," she moaned, touching the paint in Conner's hair. "Travis!"**_

_**Little Travis's voice was heard from the kitchen. "He did it!" he called.**_

"_**Nu-uh!" Conner called back.**_

"_**Uh-huh!"**_

"_**Nu-uh!**_

"_**UH-HUH!"**_

"_**NUUUUU-UUUUUUUUH!**_

'_**Vanessa' raised her hands to her ears. "Alright, alight, the both of you stop that this instant!" she ordered. Conner turned to look up at her. "Sweetie, go upstairs to the bathroom." He pattered off.**_

By now, both the Stolls looked like they wanted to jump into a hole and die of embarrassment. The laughter that followed them wasn't helping.

"_**Oh, Hermes, you own me big time," she muttered as she walked off towards Travis. "Travis Stoll, get away from the paints!"**_

"Okay, new story," Travis said quickly, splashing his hand in the water. The others were still laughing.

_**A little flame-headed girl was lying down on the fresh green grass. She had crayons in her hands and she was busy coloring away in a muggle coloring book.**_

"_**Muggles have it wrong," she muttered. She had a Scottish accent. "Mermaids are different!"**_

"_**Muggles don't know that, Lucy" said a little boy with short black hair. "Where's your dad?"**_

"_**With Uncle Georgie," Lucy said, coloring away. "In the kitchen."**_

George frowned. "Uncle who?" he asked. Vena didn't answer him.

"_**Mummy says you're supposed to play with Ally, Jamie," Lucy said. "Where's he?"**_

"_**With my mummy," Jamie said.**_

_**The door of the nearby house opened up and a tall red-head man with horn-rimmed glasses, neatly trimmed stubble on his chin, and messy red hair. **_

"Wait a minute," George said, raising his hand. "Is that Percy?"

Everyone looked at Percy Weasley and then back at the image in the fountain.

"Oh, bloody hell, it is!" Ron exclaimed.

"_**Lucy! Jamie! Time to come inside!" he called. "Lunch is ready!"**_

"_**But I'm not hungry, Daddy!" Lucy called back. Her stomach rumbled.**_

"_**She's lying, Uncle Percy!" Jamie called back as he got to his feet.**_

"Whoa, whoa," Ginny said, standing upright. "Did that little girl call Percy daddy?"

Percy Weasley turned pale.

"_Uncle_ Percy?" Neville added.

"_**Lucy, no games, please?" Percy called back. "And where's Roxanne? Uncle Georgie can't find her."**_

_**Jamie ran up to him. "Roxie is with Freddie," he said. "They're by the duck pond, trying to turn the ducks blue!"**_

'_Freddie?' _the wizards thought in unison.

"_**Oh, dear gods," Percy said, shaking his head. "Jamie, go inside. Lucy, when I come back, you better be by that table." Lucy didn't move. "Unless—you want Teddy to eat all the chocolate pudding?"**_

_**Lucy squealed and scrambled to her feet. "Teddy, no!" she squealed as she ran passed her father. She didn't pass him. Percy scooped her up in his arms and swung her around. Lucy began to giggle.**_

"_**Daddy, put me down!" she squealed. "Mama, help! Help!"**_

"_**Ah, that accent of yours; you're sounding more like your mummy," Percy chuckled and set her back down on her feet. "Inside," he said, walking off to the back of the house.**_

Vena waved her hand over the image and the surface of the water returned back to its normal form.

"Oh, I think that's enough for today," she said; her tone held an air of calm, but in actuality, she felt a bit jumpy, mostly because the readers were pouring that emotion into her. "The sky's changed again. It's nearly evening."

Harry looked up in surprise. "But—we only had lunch about an hour ago," he said.

"I repeat, time changed again," Vena said briskly, turning on her heels an walking away. "While we were in the corridors. Haven't you noticed how dark the sky was when we got out here?"

The Weasleys hadn't even bothered to pay her much attention. They were all looking at Perce.

"That—that," Perce stuttered, staring at the blank surface of the fountain. "That—that was—who?"

"I'm guessing she's your daughter," Ginny said with awe. "_You_ get a daughter?"

Perce glared at her. "The incredulity in your voice is offensive," he said.

"Wait… Is this the Percy the 2009-Percy?" Hermione asked. "The one with Lucy? And who is Jamie?" She glanced at Harry. It occurred to her who Jamie could possibly be, especially, when the same of his eyes and nose resembled Harry.

Vena nodded and she turned back to face them. "Yes," she said. "That was Lucy Weasley. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about her right now. Or Jamie. Just know that they are a part of your future."

"Why were we allowed to see them?" Ginny asked. "If we can't know anything about them, then why did we see them?"

Vena shrugged. "The fountain was being random," she replied. She smiled. "You'll know about them one day, even here on Star, but just not today. And I don't control what it shows, not when there is an audience around it. Only if one is alone while the images portray precise information."

"So we have to be here one by one?" Annabeth asked. "And what do we see?"

"What you want to see," Vena replied; she wanted the conversation over with. She was good at being patient, but mostly on her own time. "However, it isn't always fair. Knowledge here is cryptic. Courtesy of my father."

"Why'd you bring us out here if you're only going to take us back inside?" Grover asked, staring at the flowers longingly.

"Well, you'll all be here tomorrow," Vena replied. "I'd like to see the duels. I think this a lovely place for it."

Nico frowned. "Dueling? Here?"

"Yes, here," Vena replied smoothly. "I'll explain more of that tomorrow." She snapped her fingers, and everything went black.

**~o~**

"Well, that's just bloody unfair!" The sound of Ron's voice broke everyone out of the blackness. As it turned out, the blackness was just their closed eyes. They were all back in the common room. Vena was standing by the fireplace, scrolling through her tablet.

"I'm well aware," she said. "I figured you all wouldn't want to walk all the way back to this place." She glanced at all of them. "I'm afraid I have to go. There's someone who wants to talk to me."

"And _we_ don't want to talk to you?" Annabeth asked skeptically.

Vena smiled. "Perhaps tomorrow." And in a blink of an eye, she was gone.

There was a moment of silence.

"That was like silent disapparition," Neville muttered.

"So what? We're just expected to go to bed like obedient children?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"Unless someone wants to go outside into the changing corridors…" Grover suggested.

Conner groaned. "Is it just me or all of this just a big head spinner?" He leaned his head against Travis's shoulder. "Is anyone else confused?" Half the room put up their hands.

"I do feel a bit tired," Percy admitted. "Is that strange?"

Nico shrugged and stood up. "Me too," he said. "Then again, I've been tired since morning. I'm going." He walked out of the room.

Conner nudged Travis. "I'm watching a movie," he whispered. "You coming?"

Travis nodded and said aloud, "Well, if there's nothing else to do, I'm going too." He got up and walked towards the stairs. Conner got up and went after him.

"So we're all just going?" Ron asked with disbelief. Percy and Thalia got up and walked towards the staircase, and then soon Rachel followed. Harry got up and walked to his side's staircase. Then Neville got up.

"Honestly, we're just going?" Ron repeated, even when Hermione silently got up, followed by Ginny. "Could I get an answer?"

Soon, the room was empty, all except for Ron, who just sat there on the couch, bemused.

He sighed. "Never mind."

**~o~**

"So we come up a movie and you all follow us?" Conner asked as Thalia, Percy, and Rachel streamed into the room.

"Right now, it's the best option," Thalia said. "Plus, I'm feeling bored."

"Fine," Travis said. "You pick: '_I Robot_', or '_The Fifth Element_'?"

Just as Rachel closed the door, Annabeth entered the corridor. She stared at the closed doors and walked towards Percy's room, only to hear someone clear their throat. She turned around to face Vena, who was still holding her tablet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you said someone wanted to talk to you."

Vena shrunk the tablet and stuffed it into her pocket. "That someone would be you," Vena replied. "I wanted to give you something."

"And that is?"

Vena inhaled deeply and then bent down and waved her hand over the bare skin of her lower leg. An object shimmered into visibility on her leg: a strapped up sharp blade. Annabeth's jaw dropped.

"My knife!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing with that?"

"I borrowed it," Vena replied, unsheathing it and balancing it on her palm. "I don't need it anymore now. I'm through with it."

"And what on earth could you possibly want with my knife?" Annabeth asked, feeling bother shocked and angry.

"Something for Nico," Vena replied smoothly. "It was important at the time. Now, this has run out of use for me." She handed it over to Annabeth. "You can have it back now."

Annabeth hesitated before taking her knife from Vena. "What did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything to it," Vena told her, folding her arms. "There was something I had to do and I needed it at the time. You can ask Apollo the next time to see him. It's perfectly fine."

Annabeth ran her finger lightly over the edge of her knife and eyed Vena suspiciously.

"I know you don't like me, Annabeth," Vena continued. "No child of Athena does, simply because Athena doesn't exactly like me either. To be honest, the feeling is mutual."

"And you're not going to tell me why," Annabeth guessed.

Vena sighed. "There's no fun is always being straight-forward, Annabeth. Why do you think the gods love to be so cryptic? It's a game for us."

"One I don't like to play," Annabeth replied sullenly.

"I know that," Vena said. "You could say, for some immortals, that's what makes it fun."

Annabeth frowned. "Are you one of them?"

Vena smiled but she did not answer her.

* * *

**First off, who hates me? I know I have for a while.**

**My exams are two months away. Basically, I go from morning to night in the notebooks and textbooks and filling my head with bloody math equations and integrated science definitions and a whole lot of stuff that makes my head spin. The honest truth was that I'd finished about 75% of this a while ago but I lot some inspiration after a while, which is why it's basically a bit boring. Sorry about that. I've been struggling not to go mad with school. Seniors have to go to school for the entire Easter break.**

**I'm making sure to add the next chapter as soon as I'm done with this one, which is why it may come a bit sooner, hopefully.**

**~o~**

**I can't really answer a lot of reviews right now, so I'm sorry if I didn't answer you. You can ask again, at any rate. This may be the one time I won't be annoyed by the repeats.**

**HolleyS: Percy's not dying. He changes, but he doesn't die.**

**Jonathan: Hecate doesn't have any immediate importance with the demigods, but she does with the wizards. Chaos comes later on in the story.**

**Annabeth Granger: You're last name's Prasad? Cool. And I'm rooting for Ron too. I've finally figured out how I'm going to so that scene, but unfortunately it's going to be a while before I write it out properly. And I know that Vena's backstory is a mouthful. I'll try to break it down in future reference. And I dislike tomatoes. I love celery. I'm just being random, sorry.**

**~o~**

**Okay, enough there. I've got to go.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	32. I Dream of Mika Before Combat

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.**

**Okay, so here's the next chapter. It's not a reading. I promise that's the next chapter. Note for you: I decided not to put their movie viewing on this, so I'll just mention anything that happened in it.**

**Song of the chapter: P!nk – Try**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Two**

**I Dream of Mika before Combat**

* * *

The movie finally ended with the Stolls trying to mimic the robots from _I Robot_. Thalia had kicked them in the shins until they stopped.

"Fine, if you don't like it, get out of our room already!" Travis snapped, rubbing the sore spot. "Movie's over anyway."

"Will someone wake _Achilles the Second_ up?" Rachel asked, prodding Percy on the shoulder. "He dozed off at the end of it."

"Oh gods, are we going to keep calling him that?" Conner asked, snickering. "You do know he didn't mean to tell us about his curse."

"Then he shouldn't have said it when the robots were attacking Will Smith," Thalia said, grinning. She poked her finger at the back of Percy's neck, hitting him with a weak sap of electricity. His green eyes flew open.

"Ah!" he yelped, falling to the floor. He was about to reach into his pocket for Riptide when he spotted everyone else laughing. "That's not funny, Thalia!" he snapped when he realized that she was the only capable of doing that to him.

"Uh, yeah it is!" she chuckled. "You should see the look on your face! The Achilles curse didn't protect you from that!"

'_I'm starting to regret telling them that_,' Percy thought as he glared at the lot of them. "Okay, I'm out of here before you think of doing anything else," he said, stumbling as he got to his feet. Rachel gripped his arm as a precaution.

"Careful," she said. "We're not going to carry you back to your room."

Percy smiled. "Thanks, Rachel. Good night." He walked out of the room and paused in the hallway, trying to remember which room was his. Then he spotted his name on one of the doors and made his way towards it. Once he was inside, he stumbled to his bed without bothering to bath or change his clothes.

**~o~**

Percy dreamed that he was in a beautiful chamber room on Olympus.

It had to be the most beautiful room he had ever seen. It was a vast, long rectangular room, and Percy was sure it was bigger that his apartment in Manhattan, of even the Poseidon cabin.

The floor was artistically tiled to look exactly like a lotus flower on a lily pad in a lake. There was even a small pool made of shimmering colored crystals near the open window; it was filled with tiny lotus flowers. The view from the windows displayed a very different looking Manhattan. The city was bigger, brighter, and cleaner, and the sea was a clear shade of blue—the same you'd find on a tropical beach in the West Indies.

Yet Percy's attention was quickly drawn back into the lovely bed chambers. The color of the wall behind the bed was a unique shade, like a mix between fair peach and warm gold. On the wall around the fireplace, the image of forests shimmered on the smooth colored stone and Percy glanced at it through the corner of his eyes, he could have sworn he was in a charming green wood.

The bed itself was huge, almost bigger than a king-sized bed. Percy imagined that five Tysons could fit on it comfortably. The covers were plush, the color of cream, with burgundy and indigo throw pillows. A white, stuffed wolf sat on the center of the bed next to polished gold shield.

'_Boy, I could do with a bed like that, but in blue_,' Percy thought to himself, feeling a bit envious. '_It looks better than Crusty's beds any day_…"

The room had its own fireplace that could have been as tall as Percy himself. On the mantle were pictures of many people that Percy didn't know. He only recognized a few gods like Apollo, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and a few goddesses like Athena, Hestia, Artemis, and Aphrodite. He saw a few with Vena in them. One had her throwing cake in Apollo's face. Another showed Apollo pulling her into a swimming pool, which definitely looked like it was against her will. Percy would have laughed, but he was in a dream he didn't understand.

The huge double doors suddenly opened up and Percy's attention was caught by a lovely young girl in a stunning blue dress studded with jewels shaped like corals around the waist. She had the small curves of a growing teenager and lithe posture; her skin was creamy smooth and it seemed to glow like a light was faintly under her skin. That led Percy to believe she was an immortal. No mortal could look like that. She walked over to a mirror that Percy hadn't noticed and he found that he was able to see her better since he was closer.

The girl had long curly, nearly black, reddish-brown hair that tumbled down to her waist. He noticed that her eyes were vivid green, but when she smiled, they seemed to pale to look more silvery gray-green. She seemed—familiar—to him, yet he was sure that he had never seen her before. He noticed that she was seriously beautiful, but he wasn't in the slightest bit attracted to her at all.

Why would he be, when he had Annabeth?

The girl took a deep breath and tugged at a lock of her curly hair. Her smile dimmed slightly as looked at her reflection.

"I wish you here, Daddy," she whispered. She skimmed her fingers over the side of her face. "Oh boy, Aunt Affie went overboard… I look like Barbie Angel again."

"You sound like your mother."

The young girl looked around. Percy looked over to the entrance to the room and saw a sight that gave him a small shock. The man standing there, with his hand behind his back, looked like he was somewhere in his mid-thirties. He wore a white suit that looked like an elegant mix of the old traditional and a cruise ship captain. He had a neatened shadow on his chin and his black hair was combed back.

The biggest shock was that he was Poseidon, Percy's father. Percy had never seen him like that before.

"That's a beautiful dress," he said, smiling. "I think Athena chose well."

"Don't let her hear you say that." The girl grinned and looked back at the mirror. "Well, I do agree."

Poseidon smiled and approached her. As Percy looked at the two of them, he realized that they looked a lot alike. Was she Poseidon's daughter?

"I just wanted to give you your birthday present. If Zeus says it's from him as well, he's lying."

She started laughing. Poseidon whipped his hand from behind his back to reveal a green velvet box. He opened it to reveal a stunningly expensive tiara with polished corals and pearls, and tiny diamonds. Percy knew that if he had been there in real life, his eyes would have fallen out.

"Oh my gods, it's beautiful," she said with soft awe, reaching out a hand and skimming it on the top of the tiara. "Is this mine?"

"Well, I assume it is your birthday. Or did I get the date wrong?" Poseidon asked, amused.

"Again? Nope, not this time," the girl giggled, causing Poseidon to blush with embarrassment.

"Here, let's see how it looks." Poseidon removed the tiara from the velvet box as the girl turned around to face the mirror again. Poseidon fixed the tiara on the top of her hair, and once he was sure it wouldn't fall off, he backed away so she could stand in the mirror alone.

"Wow." She gaped at the tiara on her head. "Oh… Gramps, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed, turning to hug him. Percy threw his father-daughter theory out of the window. "Thank you!"

Poseidon smiled at her fondly. "You're most welcome, Mika."

Mika? Like _Mike-a_? Percy thought that was a strange name, but he couldn't make a comment against it. After all, it was a dream, but Percy was well aware that this was no ordinary dream.

"My, my, don't you look exquisite." Percy looked around to see Athena in the doorway in a simple beaded silver and green dress, smiling slightly at the sight before her.

"Thank you," Mika said, blushing. "You look beautiful, too."

"Thank you, dear," Athena said, glancing at Poseidon with amusement, and then back at Mika. "I must say, they're spoiling you more than ever."

Poseidon chuckled. "It's her birthday, Athena," he said. "I think she's earned the right, after all."

"And what about every other day of the year?"

Mika started giggling at her grandfather's exasperated expression. "Oh, get out, will you?" He didn't sound annoyed or irritated. On the contrary, which surprised Percy, he sounded amused as well. "Weren't you with your daughters?"

"Annabeth and Sabrina will handle well without me for a few minutes," Athena said. "But I will check on Malcolm. I hear he and Nick are having technical difficulties." She turned and left the room.

Poseidon shook his head. "She does this to annoy me, doesn't she?" he muttered softly.

The girl, Mika, smiled at his comment and walked up to the mirror with a grace that only a goddess could have. The smile slid off her face and she sighed.

"Why can't Daddy come back early?" she asked Poseidon. "I really wanted him to be here."

"I know you are disappointed," Poseidon said. "But your father does have a few matters to take care of. He will be here later."

Mika nodded, a small pout forming on her face. Percy felt sorry for her. For some reason, he really wanted her to get what she wanted. Poseidon gave Mika another hug and left the room.

Mika sighed and closed her eyes tightly. Percy came to realize that this was Mika's room. It was like being in a forest and a lake at once. Mika must have liked nature a lot. The way her skin glowed, he thought she looked like a hunter of Artemis; it sort of resembled how Thalia looked sometimes. For all he knew, she _was_.

Percy didn't even notice that someone had come into the room. He should have known because there seemed to be a change in the air before him. Mika didn't open her eyes, but she did say, "I'll be out in a minute. I just need time to think."

A low chuckle ran throughout the room and Mika's eyes snapped open. "Very well, then," the man said, sounding both wistful and amused. "I only wished to give my _precious_ daughter her birthday gift, but if she doesn't _want_ me to be here, then I'll _go_."

Mika turned around so swiftly that Percy nearly jumped out of his skin—or his dream.

Standing by the doorway was Poseidon and another man, presumably Mika's father and Poseidon's son since they had the same black hair. His eyes were covered by black shades so he reminded Percy of Neo from the Matrix, but the major different between them was the golden locket around his next that was shaped like an oyster. Then Neo disappeared behind his daughter's excited hug.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" she squealed, sounding like a three year old and nearly bowling him over.

Her father laughed. "Whoa! Careful sweetheart, you'll knock poor Daddy down!" he said, hugging her back and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Wow, I leave for two weeks and this is what happens."

Mika smiled sheepishly. "I missed you, Daddy," she said, still hugging him.

"I missed you too, angel," he said, holding her in his arms. "You look so beautiful." He beamed with pride. "It looks like Gramps has finally given you that tiara."

Mika nodded, careful not to throw the tiara off her head. "I decided auburn hair would better than black or blond," she said sheepishly, fluffing up her curly hair.

"Mimicking Artemis, are we?" Poseidon teased. Mika playfully stuck her tongue out at her grandfather. Her father tapped her on the nose and she stopped, giggling.

Percy came closer to see Mika and her father. He was tall and well built. He was sure that under the black dress suit and gold chains was physique that belonged to a soldier. He looked really familiar too, but Percy supposed most children of Poseidon would have his black hair and facial features.

A woman called through the door and Mika's father looked around. "That would be your mother," he said, reaching under his jacket to pull out something from his pocket. "That reminds me. This is for you."

He held up a blue velvet box. Mika opened it to see a golden necklace with pearls and diamonds. The pendant itself was a deep blue sapphire shaped like a flower and surrounded by tiny diamonds.

_'The family really dresses rich in the future_,' Percy thought to himself. He started to wonder whether this girl was as spoiled as Athena said.

"Oh... my... gods... Daddy, you didn't," she said, looking up at him with wide green eyes that looked so much like a started kitten that Percy felt like laughing.

Mika's father grinned. "It wasn't just me. It was your mother, too, and Uncle Hades. If Zeus says it's from him too, he's lying." Mika snorted and glanced at Poseidon, who had an equally amused expression on his face. "Hades looked for the best jewels he could just for this and Lord Hephaestus and Chryses have been working on it for a month. It's a special birthday for you. The Olympians are going all out."

"You mean you just love to go _overboard_, don't you?" Mika smiled at her father, still looking a bit startled. "It's gorgeous."

"Yes, well, by order of Aphrodite, you have to wear it before you leave this room." He lifted it from its velvet case. "She's so bossy." Mika and Poseidon laughed.

A voice called out and Mika's father replied in Greek. Then someone marched into the room. It was a beautiful young woman; she had long, curly blond hair, smooth peachy skin like a baby, a curvy figure wrapped in an elegant blue cocktail dress, and a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Hey, you guys, I know you're catching up, but SOMBODY'S wife is calling them," she said, indicating to the hallway outside. Then she noticed Mika. "Oh, sweetie, you look gorgeous, just like your mother."

Then a woman's voice called into the room, "Who is still waiting for her husband!"

The woman giggled, her sky blue eyes dancing with mirth. Mika smiled. "Thank you, Lexi," she said. "You look really beautiful too."

Lexi smiled and patted a curl dangling down the side of Mika's face. Percy got a shock because he recognized her: she was Lexi James, a daughter of Apollo. She was one of the best singers at camp, best friend to Will Solace and Kayla Richtor, two other children of Apollo. Percy was sure this was of the far off future. There was no way Lexi could be here like this unless ... unless she was immortal.

Mika's father started. "I'm coming, Love," he called back. Then he looked at Mika. "So sorry about that… I'll be back in five minutes."

Mika smiled. "It's okay, Daddy," she said. "Mumma's missed you a whole lot."

"I've missed her, too," he said, sounding wistful.

"Perseus, get out here!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" Perseus called back quickly. He took off his shades and gave them to Lexi. Percy nearly gasped.

He was looking at himself!

Before he could take in his older self's appearance properly, Perseus kissed Mika's forehead and said softly, "Happy Birthday, my little angel."

"Thank you, Daddy."

**~o~**

Daddy.

The word rang through Percy's ears as the sound of a fist on wood broke him out of his sleep. He nearly rolled off the bed as he whipped his head back and forth, trying to find the source of all the racket.

"Geez, Percy, I know you're a deep sleeper, but wake up already!" Conner Stoll yelled from the other side of the door.

"I'm awake!" he yelled back. "You can stop now!"

The pounding was cut of abruptly. Percy put his head in his hands and groaned.

Daddy. The image of Mika's face drifted across his eyes. She had his eyes. He was sure she had his smile. The dream hadn't felt like a normal dream, but a vision, like what he'd seen of the past. This definitely wasn't the past.

"We're having breakfast in the common room," Conner called. "You have ten minutes before we eat everything."

Percy groaned and pushed himself off the bed. He stretched his arms, and for a moment, he almost forgot what was bothering him. Then he remembered her face again and he sighed.

"For Poseidon's sake, I don't even know the girl!" he grumbled to himself as he went to take a shower. The feel of hot water was enough to wake him up and shake her out of his head. He put on a simple blue t-shirt and khaki beach shorts—he realized that most of his trousers were like that—and went down to the common room where he saw everyone but the Weasleys sitting on the seats, eating waffles.

"Oh, there he is," Grover said, jabbing his thumb to the end of the staircase where Percy had appeared.

"Hey," Percy muttered as he plopped himself down next to Annabeth and pecked his lips on her cheek. "Where are the others?"

"I think they're still upstairs," Neville said, looking at Harry.

Harry shrugged. "I think it has something to do with Lucy," he said. "They wouldn't say why."

"They said they were going to be down here in five minutes, which was ten minutes ago," Hermione stated, sounding worried. "I think I should go up there—"

"Do bother," Thalia said, jerking her head towards the wizards' staircase. "Here they come."

The shadowy figures of the Weasley family grew bigger and bigger until Ginny's feet were spotted hurrying down the staircase, closely followed by George and Ron. Percy Weasley came down last, looking a bit pale.

"Morning to you," Nico said, cutting up his waffles with his fork.

"Yeah, morning," Ron said, glancing at Percy. Then his eyes settled on the platters before him. "Waffles!" He hurried to get a plate.

Hermione shook her head with amusement.

"Has anyone seen Aunt Vena for the morning?" Nico asked.

Annabeth slowed down when chewing her food. She didn't want to say that she had seen Vena that morning, staring out of the window by the fireplace. Vena had only said, "Good morning," before disappearing into nothing. She hadn't even turned around. If only Rachel or Thalia had come down with her, then she might have tagged behind longer than that.

"I guess she'll turn up later," Conner said.

The conversation sort of died out as they ate. It had before rather boring with silence. Eventually, Conner walked over to the flat screen over the fireplace and picked up the remote on it. He hadn't remembered it being there yesterday (Apollo had it last, after all), but he was happy it was there now.

"Let's see if this has any stations on it," he suggested. He switched on the television and once he found the cable, he started to switch through the channels.

He always paused on every station, only for someone to complain about it.

"We're NOT watching '_Say Yes to the Dress_'," Thalia said as soon at the channel showed up.

Conner choked on laughter. "As if I'd watch that anyway," he replied cheekily, changing the channel.

"I'm not in the mood for '_Dog the Bounty Hunter' either_," Nico said. Conner changed the channel.

Travis chuckled. "Hey, look, it's Graham Norton!"

"No, Travis," Rachel said.

"But can we at least see who's on the show?"

"No."

Conner grumbled as he switched the channel. "Geez, woman, what do you have against GN?" He looked at what was showing on the next channel and said, "I ain't watching no '_House Hunters_'." He frowned. "Why are all the channels mixed up? They're not in order. 53, 62, 24? Seriously?"

He switched the channel. After rejecting five more shows, Nico got irritated and nabbed the remote from it. For the entire time, the wizards had stared at them with fascination. It was quite entertaining.

"Let me see that," he said. "Amateur." Conner looked offended as Nico pressed a few buttons before the cable switched to something new.

"…And coming up, _The Dating Games of the Love Gods_, starring Eros, the god of love, followed by _Battle of the Bros_, starring Phobos and Deimos, sons of Ares…"

"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is Hephaestus TV," Nico said, smirking.

"What?" half of the demigods exclaimed.

"Dude, how'd you find that?" Percy asked with amazement.

Nico patted the remote control. "When one spends decades in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, one picks up a few tricks."

"Hey, can I see that?" Ron asked, pointing at the remote. Nico tossed it over and Ron caught it before it hit Harry in the head.

"Thanks," Harry said, shaking his head.

Ron looked at the remote for a second and pressed a random button. The volume on the television went up to a blare.

"Oi!" Ginny said, snatching the remote from him. She saw the mute button and clicked it by instinct. The volume went out. "That's better."

Ron blushed. "Sorry," he said. He took the remote back from Ginny and studied it for a while. Eventually he was able to put the volume back to normal. "You know, I should have listened to Dad when he was explaining these things."

George chortled.

"Well, I'm glad you're all having fun." Everyone looked around to see Vena in the hallway with her tablet in hand. "Should I come back later?"

"What?" Percy asked. "Um, no. We, uh, we were—"

"—waiting for you to show up," Thalia finished for him. She got to her feet. "Might I add; I didn't appreciate the disappearing act you pulled yesterday."

Vena smirked. "Sorry, I'm just used to going _anywhere_ I want—_when_ I want," she replied. "I forget that you're all human and you work on a different pace." She wrote something down on the tablet. "Anyway, I was hoping to take you all outside into the garden, if you're up to it."

Everyone exchanged quick glances.

Ginny said, "Sure, Vena, why not?"

**~o~**

The sky over the garden was lilac and apricot. The flowerbeds of buds danced in the gentle breeze and sweetened the air was a lovely floral scent. Vena led the readers out to a wide clearing where the bright green grass was neatly trimmed.

"This wasn't here yesterday," Hermione said as she studied the smooth clearing.

"That's because I cleared it last night while you all were sleeping," Vena replied. "I thought you all could use it as a dueling area." She smiled. "I do remember you all agreeing to show each other your skills. Why not do it today?"

"Really? You're not going to show up more of your home?" Nico asked in surprise.

"There's always going to be time for that," Vena told him. "I thought you all could do with being in your own element today."

The demigods exchanged gleeful glances. "Oh, I'm in!" Thalia exclaimed, grinning wickedly. "I challenge Percy."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You _challenge_ me?" he asked with a hint of a grin. "You've been spending a lot of time around those girls. You're sounding a century old."

"You're going to pay for that."

Conner's eyes widened. "Clear the field!" he yelled. "Run for your lives!"

He ran off towards the edge of the clearing with Travis hot on his heels. Annabeth and Rachel both looked like they were going to bust out laughing as they calmly walked away from Thalia and Percy, who remained in the middle of the clearing. Nico rolled his eyes and followed them towards the benches (his feet were starting to ache) and Grover nudged the wizards after them.

"You really are going to want to stand back," he warned. "The last fight they had was pretty bad."

"Yeah," Nico said, shuddering. "The water of a lake should _stay_ in the lake. It's unnatural to see it so high in the air." He looked around the clearing. "At least there's no immediate water here."

Ginny looked at her friends. "Well, move along then," she said, running off towards Rachel and Annabeth.

"But they don't have any protection gear," Rachel murmured to Annabeth.

Annabeth smiled. "They're used to holding well without them." '_Especially with Percy's invulnerability and Thalia's hunter skills_,' she added silently.

Once the group was out of harm's way, Thalia and Percy faced each other.

Thalia pulled out her canister and twisted it; it grew into her electric spear. The head cracked dangerously.

'_At least it's better than her arrows_,' Percy thought to himself as he pulled out Riptide from his pocket. He uncapped it just as Thalia unleashed Aegis, her horrifying shield.

"Really?" Percy whined, shivering at the sight of Medusa on the shield's gleaming front.

Thalia grinned. "It's so not my fault you don't have a shield, Jackson," she said cheekily.

Percy glared. "I used to, but—" He frowned. He really did miss the shield Tyson had made him. "Never mind."

Vena tilted her head and called out, "Okay, let's be fair. He can borrow mine."

She snapped her fingers and a gold bracelet appeared on Percy's wrist. He stared at it in surprise. Unlike Thalia's bracelet, this one gleamed like the sun. It was a reasonable weight, for gold, and he was glad it didn't look feminine. There were star patterns around the edges, along with the symbol of the sun on both sides of his wrist. Inscribed on the top of it was a wreath; its two halves were woven with two serpents with bright black eyes. Right in the center of the snake-woven wreath were the letters "SPQR".

"Whoa," he said, gaping at the bracelet and then at Vena. "This is yours?"

Vena nodded. "It was a gift, when I was in Rome," she said. "I've never had a reason to use it nowadays. It hasn't seen any action since the 1600s. Give it a try."

Percy ran his fingers lightly over the letters, SPQR. They sent a shiver down his spine. "How do you work it?"

Vena smiled. "It's instinct. Just relax your mind."

Percy frowned, but he tried to do as Vena said. He stared at the suns on the bracelet and, as if something had possessed his voice, spoke the words, "_Solis ortus_."

As soon as the words left his lips, the shield sprung to life, gleaming as brightly as the morning sun. Percy's skin was hot, like he had been under the sun for hours, but within seconds the heat evaporated. He felt strong. He felt alive. He felt—awake.

"Yikes!" Thalia exclaimed, shielding her eyes. "Damn, that thing is bright!"

Percy lifted the shield to eye level. He was almost blinded by the light radiating off it, but the light died down enough for him to realize that the image of the sun had been designed in the very center of its front, encased in two long, entwined snakes.

He grinned. "Well, you have Medusa on yours," he said. "It's only fair you can't look at my shield, just like I don't want to see yours."

Thalia grumbled. "Whatever."

Percy almost didn't see her strike. There had been no "Ready, set, go," in the matter. There never really had been in training. Luckily, he was able to defend her spear so it didn't sizzle him.

"Rusty, are we?" she asked, smirking. "What would Chiron say?"

Percy ignored her and struck back with his sword. Thalia bent backwards—a near literal ninety degree angle from the knees!—and avoided his sword, bouncing back fast enough to bash her shield against his shoulder, throwing him backwards!

Percy was quick on defense mode. She jabbed, he deflected; her spear met his shield with an almighty clang, but the gold deflected the electricity, sending the released energy right back at her! Thalia only had enough time to duck before it hit her in the face. The scent of electrified hair met her nose—it hadn't missed her entirely.

On instinct, Thalia twisted around as Percy sliced Riptide for her spear hand. She kicked him backwards and used the leverage of the force to backflip away from him. Percy rolled on his back and got back to his feet in a split second.

Thalia stared at him. "That should have knocked the wind out of you," she said in amazement.

"Uh, fast recovery?" Percy said. He wasn't going to tell her that his Achilles heel had protected him from half of the forcefulness in her kick.

While Percy and Thalia went on in full combat, the onlookers commented on their performance.

"They move really fast," George said, sounding impressed. "Great reflexes."

"It comes with the fighting monsters gig," Conner told him, grinning. "It's that or death."

"Marvelous," Ginny said sarcastically. "They look like they're going to kill each other."

"They'll be fine," Nico said. "Percy wouldn't kill Thalia, and I know Thalia can't kill him. He's the best swordsman I've ever met." He blushed. "Don't tell Bellerophon I said that."

Ginny laughed and bumped her shoulder against Nico's. "Secret's safe with me."

Annabeth looked at Vena. "Where did you get that shield?" she asked. "It's not celestial bronze."

Vena walked over to her. Annabeth clearly remembered the fact that Vena didn't like her and she wasn't surprised that the immortal was hiding it well. "It was a gift I got during the Roman Empire. It's called Solaris."

"Like _Solaris ortu_," Rachel said. "It's Latin for 'The Rising Sun'. It came from Apollo, didn't it?"

"Why doesn't it surprise me that his oracle would figure that out," Vena said cheerfully. "Yes, it was a gift from him. That's why it glows like the sun." Vena rubbed her left wrist, as if she were wearing the bracelet. "It's made of Imperial gold, not celestial bronze."

Annabeth frowned. "Why is that?"

"Because it was what the Romans used," Vena replied. "It went with the era."

"Whoa!" Travis exclaimed loudly, bother out of surprise and concern, jumping in his seat. "Damn! That must have hurt!"

Vena, Rachel, and Annabeth looked around just in time to see Thalia blast Percy twenty five feet away with her spear's lightning. He flew ten feet into the air before he landed with a loud crash to the ground.

Thalia froze. She hadn't meant to hit him THAT hard! With that much power, he might have fried to death! Percy lay flat on the ground; Riptide laid a foot away from his hand. For a moment, he didn't move. Then he groaned and slowly raised his head, opening his green eyes blearily.

"OW!" he yelled at Thalia. The word sounded incredulous instead of agonized. He groaned, but the pain had already started to slip away. With little effort, he grabbed up his sword and used it to support his way back to his feet.

"Okay, Grace," he said breathlessly. "You're going to pay for that one."

The daughter of Zeus gaped. "That could have killed you!" she exclaimed, horrified with herself.

"Yeah? Well, it didn't," Percy said, sounding annoyed and tired. "It hurt like Hades, but I'm still standing. Deal with it."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, both high on adrenaline. Before either of them could continue, Vena appeared next to them.

"I think you two should take a break," she said smoothly. "You did well." There was an obvious note in her voice that said 'Enough'.

Thalia was angry, but it wasn't with Percy or Vena. It was at herself. As she and Percy walked back towards their friends, she walked a little way behind him. For years, she had had problems in controlling her lightning powers; when she had been with Luke, she had almost fried him on various occasions when she practiced. With the hunters, she had begun to learn better control.

In one moment, all that success seemed to have vanished. She had intended to hit him with enough to shock him, not kill him, and she was lucky that she hadn't. She wouldn't have been able to stand to guilt of it. It was like her power had multiplied without her permission.

"Thalia, it's okay." She looked around to see Percy next to her. Riptide was a pen again, but the shield was still open. "It was an accident. Don't worry about it."

Thalia forced a laugh. "Oh, so you're not going to make me pay for it?"

Percy hesitated. "I'll get back to you on that." He smiled and added, "Honestly, I'm fine. See? Not a scratch on me."

"Thanks to your curse," Thalia muttered. Just the other night, while watching I Robot, he accidentally spilled it on them. She hadn't been too surprised like the Stolls. They eventually started calling him 'Achilles the Second', a nickname he started to hate more than Fish Breath.

"Percy, man; are you okay?" Conner asked, eyeing Percy's barbequed clothes. "You look awful."

Percy glared. "You're no Aphrodite kid, either," he retorted, throwing himself down next to Annabeth. Conner glared at him. He inspected Vena's shield. The snakes on it began to crackle with electricity.

"What the—?" Percy started, but then he looked up at Vena. "Did this—did this _absorb_ the lightning?"

"Yes," Vena said softly. "I thought you would need it." Carefully, she removed the bracelet from Percy's wrist and fixed it on her own. It looked like it belonged there on her wrist. Percy wondered why she didn't wear it all the time.

There was a moment of silence. Then Thalia said, "You knew I would hit him like that?"

Vena diverted her gaze from the daughter of Zeus. "There was a 60% chance of it. It was staring me in the face, so assisted him. It was for the better, was it not?"

She pointed at the shield. "Naturally, Imperial gold like this can be used as a conductor of electricity. This was specially designed for immortal use, not mortal. It absorbs power-based attacks. Zeus and I had a bit of a falling out at the time. Apollo had given me this as a present." Vena smiles slightly. "Then Father modified it for absorption, so if anyone were to attack me—"

"It would absorb it," Annabeth guessed. "People attack you?"

Vena shrugged. "Zeus, Ares, Demeter," she listed. "Many others." She wasn't about to add Athena to that list just yet. Luckily, they hadn't fought in a long time.

Hermione walked over to Percy. "He doesn't have a scratch on him!" she noted with surprise. "How is that even possible? There was no water to heal him."

"Are you serious?" Harry asked, appearing at her side. "You're not bleeding, Percy."

"I'm fine, honestly," Percy said. "There's no need to worry about me."

"You got hit by lightning," Ron said, staring at Percy like he's lost his mind. "I think that's something to worry about."

"Have this," Vena said, pulled out a baggie from her pocket. It had ambrosia in it. She broke off a tiny piece for Thalia, and then for Percy. "I'm sure you'll both be fine."

Thalia chewed on her ambrosia carefully. The cuts on her arms and hands sealed up. The ache in Percy's stomach vanished, as did the weariness in his eyes.

"Thanks," they said.

"I'm afraid Apollo isn't able to make it back today," Vena informed them. "His medical assistance is required back home. Ares has caused a bit of trouble."

**~o~**

"Hermes, stop whining!" Apollo said firmly. "Now hold still. This is going to hurt."

Hermes was kneeling in front of his throne in the throne room. Ichor dripped down the side of his head as he glared at Ares, who was currently restrained by Poseidon and Artemis.

"I hate dislocated shoulders," Hermes said through gritted teeth. Apollo set his shoulder without warning. "Ah! _Ti ston Ádi̱ ,o Apóllo̱nas!_" A bit of profanity slipped from his mouth in Greek.

"Sorry," Apollo said sheepishly. He sent a pulse of energy into Hermes arm and the ache went down. "Better now?"

"Very," Hermes replied, still wincing from the injury.

"Let me at him!" Ares bellowed angrily, struggling against his uncle's grip to get to Hermes and beat him to a pulp.

"Oh, be quiet you buffoon!" Artemis snapped. She had one of her arrows in her hand, and she was pointing it dangerously towards Ares's eye.

**~o~**

Vena tried not to smile.

"Percy will make a full recovery, I'm sure," she said. "Besides, I doubt Annabeth would let him be anything else."

Annabeth blushed as Percy chuckled.

"Well, if that's the case," Conner said, rising to his feet. "I want to go next."

He swaggered off to the clearing. Travis stared at him for a second and went, "What the heck?" and sauntered after him.

Percy caught onto a few more worried looks and sighed. "I'm fine and I've had worse, but I'm touched by your concern."

Out on the field, Conner took out his knife. It was fifteen inches long with a reddish-brown leather-wrapped handle. The caduceus, symbol of Hermes, was carved on one side of the bronze knife, as were the initials 'CS' on the other; underneath it said '_Kléfti̱s'_. Travis took out his knife. It was nearly identical to his brothers, but the leather on his was nearly black, and his had the initials 'TS' instead of 'CS', and underneath it said '_Taxidió̱ti̱s'_.

"You ready?" Conner asked, whirling the knife expertly around with his fingers.

"Bring it on, Con-Man," Travis replied, grinning.

At the speed of a bullet, Conner swiped his knife at Travis's face—but missed when Travis ducked backwards and deflected the blow with his own blade. He twisted his blade enough to bend Conner's hand, forcing Conner to pull back.

"I'm not used to seeing them fight with knives," Percy commented. "Only swords."

"They're actually quite good," Annabeth said. "I've seen them. I'm not sure that I've seen those knives before. They must be new."

"No, they had them when I saw in the Hermes cabin," Nico informed her. "They said they only use them in emergencies. I think they were gifts from their father, Hermes."

As it turned out, the Stolls were very good at mixing knife combat with hand-to-hand combat. At one point, Travis jammed his knife between his feet at mid-jump, karate cropped his brother in the chest—which sent Conner flying backwards to the ground—and then back-flipped, tossing his knife high into the air before expertly catching it's hilt before it hit his shoulder, all in a matter of five seconds.

"Whoa!" George gasped. "He can do that?"

"Apparently," Thalia said, looking impressed. "I've only ever seen Artemis do that."

"You've seen Artemis?" Hermione asked in surprise, "The moon goddess?"

"We all have," Thalia said, waving her hand. "In fact, we've seen the entire Council in session." She wasn't about to tell them she was a hunter just yet. It would spoil the surprise of it.

Conner jumped back to his feet and spun around at the same time, locking his leg around Travis's and dragging him to the ground. In a flash of a second, he had Travis's knife in his hands when he backed away, grinning.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Travis complained as he jumped to his feet.

"You want it back?" Conner asked, waving Travis's knife in the air from him to see. "Come and get it."

Hermione frowned. "Isn't that cheating?"

"Who cares?" was her reply from half the Greeks who were too busy staring at the brothers with anticipation. Vena held back a laugh. The brothers were just teasing each other—having fun was a better term for it. If they weren't careful, Travis would slip up with his power. She just wondered who would notice it.

Travis readied himself before lunging at his brother, who swiped the knife in his left hand at his brother, who dodged it by turning to the side, and then the one in his right hand, which Travis dodged at well in the exact same manner.

Then Travis grabbed his brother's arm before he could retract it and held a firm grip with his right hand on it; he turned his back on his brother, and pulled him forward as he rammed his left elbow into Conner's midriff. Conner gasped out in pain as Travis took his chance to get the knife from his right hand. Then he spun around and smacked the hilt of the knife on Conner's temple, throwing him sideways. The other knife—Travis's knife—flew from Conner's grip as he fell to the ground. Travis scooped it up in the blink of an eye.

"Ah," Conner grumbled as he forced himself to sit up. "Dude, seriously?"

"If I was a monster, you'd be dead by now," Travis chided. "Get up."

Conner glared for a minute before clamping his teeth down on his tongue and rising to his feet in a fashion that shocked Travis—well, injured him would be better words.

Halfway through standing up, Conner switched to flipping backwards and kicked one foot out far enough to meet his brother's head, ramming it hard with his face. Then he neatly flipped away from him and came to stand with his two fists in front of his face, ready to fight again.

Travis stumbled as something wet ran over his lips. He raised one hand to his face and rested his palm under his nose, pulling back to see blood.

"You broke my nose," he said, both surprised and annoyed.

Conner shrugged. "And I think you broke something too," he replied breathlessly. "Call it even."

"They better be careful," Ginny said with concern. "I think they should take a break."

Vena didn't say anything. She was typing on her tablet.

**YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOUR BOYS, H. THEY ARE DOING QUITE WELL.**

There was almost an immediate response.

_**SO THEIR PROGRESS HAS IMPROVED? HOW ARE THEY?**_

**WELL, AT THE MOMENT, THEY ARE IN A SMALL SPAT, BUT THEY'LL BE OVER IT IN A MINUTE.**

_**SO, EVERYTHING'S NORMAL THEN?**_

**POSITIVELY, H.**

"Uh, Vena? Hello?"

"In a minute, Nico," she said absently. "Oh, and to answer your questions: no, I'm not ignoring you; yes, I know what's going on; yes, they'll be done in two minutes, and no, you can't have chocolate now."

Nico's cheeks turned pink as all eyes turned on him.

"What? I like chocolate," he muttered. Everyone was amused.

In the moment when they were all distracted on Nico, most of them didn't notice that Conner and Travis had started fighting again. Ron's eyes widened when he saw something—Travis's slip.

In one moment, he was on Conner's left, trying to get his knife back, and when Ron blinked, there was a blue glow on Conner's right and Travis was on his right. He snagged his knife out of his brother's hand and put him in a headlock.

"Hey!" Conner yelled, flailing his arm around. "Aw, come on!"

Travis laughed with glee as he fought with his struggling brother, who eventually gave up trying to free himself.

"Alright, alright! I give! I give!" Conner said, beginning to laugh himself; he had to admit, his brother's laugh was a bit infectious when it wanted to be. When Travis released him, Conner jumped on his back and tried to wrestle his knife from his grip.

"Con! Whoa!" The both of them tumbled to the ground and were—by some miracle—not skewered by the knives.

"Okay, boys, that's enough!" Vena called over. "Before you hurt yourselves!" Everyone looked at her. "Even more," she added unashamedly.

Ron stared as the boys stopped their squabbling and retreated back to the main group. "You disappeared," he said in amazement. "Do you know how to apparate?"

Travis's grin faltered for a moment. "Wh-What are you talking about?" he asked, trying not to sound nervous.

"You were at one spot and then you were at another," Ron said, "like disapparation."

Conner and Travis exchange quick glances before Conner said, "Dude, what are you talking about?" he asked. "I know my brother's quick on his feet and everything, but he didn't disappear."

"Yeah, Ron, I didn't see him disappear," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe it was a trick of the light."

"But—" Ron realized that no one else had any idea what he was talking about. He looked at Vena, but she was too busy on her tablet. "Never mind," he amended. Five second later he exclaimed, "But I saw something!"

Hermione smiled and patted his arm affectionately. "Ron, what you saw were two brothers fighting," she said. "We all saw that." Then she grimaced when she saw the blood flowing from Travis's nose. "And we should fix that."

"I will do it," Luna offered, standing up and walking over to Travis. She took out her want and pointed it to his nose. "_Episkey_," she said in her usual dreamy voice.

Travis put his hand to his nose in shock. "You—you fixed my nose!" he exclaimed in surprise. "How'd you do that?" Then he said, without waiting for an answer, "Magic, I take it?"

Luna smiled at him. "I can remove the blood," she added. Travis held still as she pointed her wand at his nose again. "_Tergeo_."

Travis blinked as the liquid disappeared from his face, leaving him dry and clean. He touched his face and realized everything was back to normal.

"Thanks," he said, grinning at her.

"You're welcome," Luna replied pleasantly.

In the meantime, Vena had given Conner some nectar—as it turned out, he _did_ crack a rib but had been too stubborn to say anything about it—and now he was back to normal as it had healed surprisingly quickly.

"So, how'd you think we did?" Conner asked as he took a seat next to Rachel.

"To be honest, it was awesome," Grover said, sounding impressed. "Like with what Travis did with his knife. I didn't know you could hold your knife with your feet like that."

Travis smirked proudly. "That took years of practice, my friend," he said, sitting next to his brother. Luna sat next to him. "Hermes kids have to be swift and agile. I think I play the part quite well."

"Yeah, and I have to work on beating you," Conner added. "Every single time, you beat me."

Travis shrugged and grinned. "Not my problem."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it isn't."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I think I want a stretch," she said, getting to her feet. "Who's game?"

The wizards exchanged brief looks but it was Hermione who answered. "How about Harry? He looks like he's bored," she piped up.

Everyone looked around at Harry, who stood next to Percy, twirling his wand around with his fingers, staring absently at the ground. He looked up when Hermione said his name.

"What?" he asked, looking confused.

"Why don't you go duel with Ginny?" Hermione asked. "You could use the practice, yes?"

Harry stared at her and then at Ginny.

"Uh, I guess," he said slowly. So far, he and Ginny hadn't spoken much lately, and frankly, he really was getting a bit bored. Plus, there was no point in hovering over Percy's shoulder to figure out why he was still standing without a scratch on his skin, and also—he sort of wanted a chance to talk to her. "Wait, now?"

"Well, aren't you slow this morning," George joked, earning a glare.

Ginny had already walked off towards the field, leaving Harry to catch up. When they were out of earshot, Ron turned to Hermione.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting them to talk to each other," Hermione said.

Ron snorted. "Fat chance that'll be," he said. "She's probably still mad at him. He'd get a Bat-Bogey Hex before he can blink."

Hermione suppressed a smile. "Have a little faith that he can take care of himself, Ron."

Percy leaned forward. "What was the deal with them again?" he asked.

Hermione asked, "Ginny and Harry went out and after they broke up, Ron swore Harry not to date her again. It's left a little strain between them recently."

"Oh, right," Percy said, nodding his head. He remembered them saying something about that a couple of days ago, while he and few others had tried to leave the conversation.

Meanwhile, on the field, Ginny stopped walking and turned to face Harry, tapping her wand against her other hand. Harry stopped a small distance away from her, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. He was glad for its familiar feel. He could still remember the months he had without it; it had been a terrible loss until he was able to use the Elder Wand to fix it.

"Please tell me you're not going to go easy on me," Ginny said, looking annoyed. "I get enough of that from my brothers. Well, until recently." All her brothers had seen a taste of what she could do on the battlefield, and they never underestimated her again.

"I know better than that," Harry replied.

"Do you?" Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes. There was still an easy smile on her face, but her voice was low and scarily calm.

Harry got a bad feeling. "You're still upset with me, aren't you?"

Ginny glanced at her wand. "What was your first clue?"

Harry sighed and said, "Ginny, I said I was sorry."

"I know," Ginny said. "And I'm not talking about it." She raised her wand. "Let's see if the student surpasses the teacher, shall we?"

Harry clenched his teeth as Ginny sent a simple disarming charm at him. He raised a shield before it hit him. It started off quite uneventful; it was more like she was testing to see whether he knew how to defend himself against her spells.

Then it got interesting—because Ginny stopped going easy.

She shot a lightning blue spell at Harry who barely got time to put up a shield against its abruptness; it made an exploding spell when it collided with his shield and burst into a thousand dangerous looking sparks, fizzing into nothingness.

"What the—" Harry was cut off when another of Ginny's spells sent him flying backwards to the ground.

Harry shook his head, trying to stop it from spinning. He heard Ginny giggle and, with some frustration, forced himself back on his feet.

"What was that?" he asked, dusting off his shirt.

"You let your guard down, Mr. Potter," she reprimanded him, sounding a bit like Professor McGonagall while she was at it. "Besides, that was just for show."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Okay, Ginevra, let's see how you work, then," he replied.

Calling her "Ginevra" wasn't Harry's best option. Luckily, Harry was able to pull himself together enough to actually defend himself well against every one of her spells. Whenever their spells collided, they formed loud explosions, blasting them both a few steps backwards.

"Have you seen spells react like that before?" Ron asked the other wizards. "I've seen them do many other things, but not that."

Vena looked up from her tablet. "A spell can be as powerful as a wizard's or witch's willpower," she said. "Obviously, the both of them are at odds right now. Spells are one thing, but the will of the wizard gives it strength." She glanced at the dueling exes. "What does that tell you about them?"

Conner tilted his head. "Does it kinda look like they're fencing?" he asked curiously.

"Fencing?" Ron asked with confusion before taking a good look at Harry and Ginny's forms. "They don't look like they're fencing to me."

George leaned sideways without slipping off his seat. "Uh, well, when you look at it this way, they sort of do," he told Ron. "You know, from their foot movements."

"It _is_ common knowledge for a First Year that the form of fencing was based off wizard's dueling, Ron," Perce said, looking at his brother with disapproval for not knowing it. "Hence, the foil representing the wand."

"Yeah, well, Quirrell never taught us that," Ron grumbled.

Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "It was in the textbook, which I suppose now that you _didn't_ read." Ron blushed.

And out on the field…

Harry's heart was pounding. When did Ginny get this good at dueling? He'd seen some of what she could do during the battle at Hogwarts, but compared to this, it all seemed like a taster. She was faster, more agile, and more powerful than he remembered.

"Time out!" he called, barely catching his breath. Ginny stopped, panting equally as hard. Harry put his hand to his side; he swore he had a stitch there.

"You don't look too good," she commented wearily. "I hope you didn't lose your touch."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" he panted, straightened up as best as he could without his head spinning.

Ginny pushed a lock of red hair from her face. "Things change, Harry," she said. "While you were busy out there with Ron and Hermione, I was stuck at Hogwarts, which was on lockdown like Azkaban." She took a deep breath. "When Neville and I restarted the DA, we pushed hard. There was no room for messing up. Not for anyone, including me."

Harry frowned. "You didn't tell me that," he said.

Ginny stared at him. "Should I have?" she asked innocently. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Ah, we're going with this again?" Harry asked.

Ginny pursed her lips. "I think so," she said, before pointing her want at him. "_Levicorpus_."

"Whoa!" Harry's fell face forward as his ankle was yanked up into the air. He lost grip of his wand as he dangled out of arm's reach above the ground.

Meanwhile, the demigods had burst into a fit of laughter while Vena turned her head away, grinning freely. The Stolls had fallen to the ground and were literally rounding around in their laughter.

Ron's lips trembled as he choked out, "W-What was t-that for?" he managed with controlled laughter.

Hermione hid a smiled. "Um, I believe she's talking to him," she said cheerfully.

Nico rubbed the side of his face. "I'm never dating a witch," he muttered to himself.

"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed. His glasses were dangling off of his ear. "Was this necessary?"

"Well, at least you won't bow out on me long enough to have an actual conversation," she said, picking up his wand from the ground and stuffed it in her back pocket. She reached out her hand and fixed Harry's glasses before moving out of his reach.

"Thank you," Harry said sarcastically. Ginny fought a laugh; he was hilarious to look at, but there was something endearing in his expression.

"You know, I was angry with you," Ginny said, twirling her wand around. "And it wasn't just for that stupid promise."

Harry paused. "Then what was it?"

"For ignoring me," Ginny said. "When the war was over, the last thing I thought about was being with you. I'd just lost my brother and several of my friends. We all needed space and had it. There were times I wanted to talk to you and you just blew me off. I knew you had other things to deal with in the Ministry so at first I didn't made anything of it. But after that…" She took a step forward. "I thought I did something wrong because you wouldn't come near me at all."

It was a relief to get that off her back. She was far from done, but to have some of it out anyways gave her some ease.

A twinge of remorse rose in Harry. Had he really shut her out like that? He hadn't really noticed. After the way, everything had been hectic. Once life had slowed down a bit, he tried to be there for everyone else more. He hadn't realized that he wasn't really there for Ginny. He only knew that they didn't have loads of open contact.

"I didn't mean to make you feel like that," Harry said gently. Suddenly he wasn't too bothered being upside-down. "Blimey, I'm an idiot."

"Don't worry," Ginny said. "We all are." She smiled humorlessly when Harry frowned, which in a way looked like a smile in her perspective. "Even if you didn't talk to me, I should have spoken to you. I don't usually like taking no for an answer these days, but we've both changed over the last few months. I guess you just seem different to me."

Harry thought about it. "How different?"

"You brood more."

"No, I don't!"

Ginny snorted. "Um, yes, you do," she insisted. "Hermione's admitted it."

Harry was put out by that. "I just have a lot on my mind, okay!"

"I know that," Ginny said, sounding frustrated. "It would be odd if you didn't."

"Then what's the big problem?"

"You're treating me the way my brothers do!" Ginny snapped, "Like I can't handle the truth of situations! You think I wouldn't have understood what you and my brother agreed on? I would have been furious, but not stupid." A few gold sparks erupted from her wand. "You tiptoe around me every day like you did after your birthday. You expected me not to notice that?"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Harry snapped, finally feeling incensed. "Ron and I were angry and words were exchanged. It just came out before I could stop it!"

**o**

_By the others_…

"They_ do_ know we can hear them, right?" Nico asked.

"Shush!" Thalia snapped, clamping her hand over his mouth. Nico looked reproachful. "We can't hear them if you speak! Oh, where's popcorn when you need it?"

"Why do you want popcorn?" Neville asked, bemused.

Thalia rolled her eyes and didn't answer.

**o**

Ginny bit her lip. "Well, it looks like you meant it."

"I don't mean it," Harry said quickly. "Plus, there was no guarantee there could be anything afterwards. You might have moved on by the time I was done with what I needed to do. Hell, I could have been dead at the time."

Ginny laughed humorlessly. "I would have waited," she said softly. "Actually, I did my waiting. But I don't think I can wait anymore. I won't push you for a decision; that's not what I want."

"Then what do you want?"

Ginny stood right in front of Harry. Upside down, his face was an inch below hers, but he could see face quite clearly. He could probably count every freckle on the cheeks like he used to when they were alone together. He realized that her face seemed thinner, like stress had stolen a bit of weight form her.

"I just want to know where we stand, Harry," she said. "I don't want to spend the next few days here, even the rest of my life, on eggshells when I'm around you. I don't want to live in the past. It was painful enough the first time."

It took Harry a while to answer her. "You mean… start over?"

"Start over…" Ginny nodded. "Put past matters behind."

"And we'd be—what?"

"Friends. Only."

There was a small sinking sensation in Harry's stomach. He wanted to tell Ginny that that wasn't what he wanted. He was willing to forget that old promise anyways, but that would leave him at a few odds with Ron. He didn't really need that at the moment.

"And somewhere along the road, do you think there would be a chance to start again?" he asked softly.

Ginny's heart stuttered around in her chest but she beat it back. "Maybe," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "But you'd have to earn that."

She turned around and stared up at the sky. It was lilac and aquamarine. She still couldn't get over how it changed like that. She walked a few feet away from Harry and turned back around. She realized he was smiling cheekily.

"What?" she asked, feeling confused. Did she do something funny?

"Oh, nothing," Harry said, sounding undetached and smug all at once. "You know, Mad-Eye said to never put your wand in the back pocket. He was right." He held up his hand to reveal he was holding his wand. Ginny checked her back pocket and came to one conclusion; he has stolen his wand back and she hadn't noticed.

"Levicorpus," Harry said before she could react.

Ginny squealed as her ankles swung up in the air, dangling her upside-down in a strange reflection of Harry. She gasped in shock as she swung from side to side. Neither of them noticed the others snickering in the background.

"It doesn't feel good, does it?" Harry said as Ginny came to realize what had happened. "At least now we're on the same level."

Ginny was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to hex him, but she came to the conclusion that it was partially fair. That didn't mean she had to like it.

"Well, I could take Cadogan's pony, I guess," she replied waspishly, looking upwards—or perhaps downwards—at her hair; was long enough to reach the ground.

"You'll take a what?" Harry asked in bewilderment. "What about Cadogan?" What did a mad portrait of a knight have anything to do with this, as well as his pony?

"It means that I'll salvage the best I can from a tricky situation," Ginny replied. Then she added, "At least, that's what Granddad Septimus used to say."

"Who?"

"Dad's father."

"Oh."

Ginny actually smiled. "I'd forgotten how much of the Wizarding World you still don't know about," she said. "It's still sweet."

Harry blushed, both out of embarrassment and bashfulness.

"And I must add, you look really silly," she said, trying not to giggle.

"Oh yeah? You should see my point of view," Harry said. "You're hair's shaped like a carrot."

Ginny blushed. "And you're glasses are trying to run away." Harry put his hand to his face.

"No, they're not," he whined, sounding like a little boy. The tone made Ginny laugh. "No, really!"

**o**

"So is the dueling part over?" Conner asked; seeing Harry and Ginny upside-down had been funny, but now that they were both like that, it had started to get old.

"Eh, we can try again later," Thalia said. "Besides, I'd actually like to see if we could duel each other."

"Magic against celestial bronze?" Rachel asked. "Is that even fair?"

"Might be worth a shot," Travis suggested.

No one noticed the small sneaky look on Vena's face. She knew they'd come across that little snag, but she had found a solution for it. It would be a while before they actually got to it, though.

**o**

Ginny and Harry gazed at each other for a while. They were both well aware that they could take themselves down from the curse laid on them, but remained exactly the way they were.

"Are we friends?" Harry asked suddenly. "I don't want to lose that."

Ginny thought about it. "Yes," she said. "If that's alright with you…"

Harry smiled weakly. "It is." '_Sort of_,' he added in his head.

"Good," Ginny said. "With that, I can least hex you freely." Harry's eyes widened and she chuckled. "I'm only joking. Merlin, don't take everything so seriously."

"Ha," Harry said, shaking his head. It felt strange, doing that the wrong way up. "Does that mean we can come down now?"

Ginny stared at him for a moment and then snorted. "You need to ask permission?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm not—"" Harry started, but he cut himself off. "Never mind." He pointed his wand at her. "I'm letting you down," he warned. "Libercorpus."

Ginny was released of the spell and was agile enough not to land on her head. She straightened up, hair tumbling around her face in a red mess; she cheeks were red from laughing and blood.

"Time's up, I guess," she said. "Liberacorpus."

Harry's fall wasn't elegant, but he managed not to fall on his head none the less. He scrambled to his feet, dizzy from the blood rush, and straightened up properly within a minute.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, the corners of her lips turning upwards. With Harry's cheeks bright pink, Ginny thought he looked like he did before he broke up with her; happier. The memory tinged at her heart.

"Uh, yeah, I'm—" Harry swallowed and continued, "I'm fine. Yeah."

There was a long silence between them. It felt like an hour before they were interrupted.

"Oi! Are you two coming back yet?" Neville called over to them. "We're going back inside."

Harry took a deep breath, spared a look at Ginny, and then awkwardly walked off towards their friends. Ginny began to follow him, and as they got closer, she got an idea that would cheer her up a bit.

"_Crinus Muto_," she muttered, pointing her wand at Harry's head.

Finally they got to the group. Hermione opened her mouth, ready to say something, when she saw Harry. She stared brief, and then burst into giggles.

"What?" Harry tilted his head, perplexed.

Hermione didn't answer him, but her giggling attracted everyone else's attention to Harry's head. Ron snorted; George and the Stolls began cackling; Luna's eyes widened; Rachel, Annabeth, and Grover were suppressing grins; Percy and Neville simply stared; Nico had looked away; Vena was still typing on her tablet with a smirk plastered on her face.

"Okay, honestly, what's the matter?" Harry asked, holding his arms wide open.

Vena looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing, Mr. Potter," she said with a controlled voice. "I think it's time to go back to the Common Room. And we're walking this time."

One by one as they all got up to go, everyone glanced at Harry and burst into laughter as they walked away. Harry, feeling self-conscious, looked to Ron and Hermione, but before either of them could say anything, Ginny grabbed their arms and dragged them away.

"Hey!" Harry protested, hurrying after them. "Seriously, what's so funny?"

"Nothing!" Ginny cheerfully called back to him. Annabeth and Rachel looked ready to answer, but Travis clamped her hands over their mouths and gave Grover and Percy warning looks. He knew a prank when he saw it and he didn't want it ruined just yet.

"But—" Ron started before was cut off with a tongue-twister. He glared at Ginny while he fumbled with his wand to unjinx himself.

Hermione turned around, still being dragged off by Ginny, and patted the top of her head with her free hand and then pointed to him. Harry touched the top of his head, but he didn't feel anything different about it. There was nothing stuck in it. It was its usual messy self. He felt the rest of his head. Everything felt normal. He glanced at Neville, who ran his hand through his hand and nodded. Conner yanked Neville off after the group before he could give him a better explanation.

There were already in the corridors when Harry realized what was going on.

The group, still chuckling every now and again, walked down a corridor where an entire wall was a big reflective mirror. Harry glanced at it and froze.

"What in Merlin's name?" he yelped, drawing back attention from the rest of the group. He stared at his reflection in shock.

His hair, his untidy black hair—inheritance from his father, nonetheless—was bright purple with pink tipped on the ends.

There was a moment of silence.

Then Conner said, "It looks good on you, man," he joked.

Harry stared at his hair some more before slowly turning to look at Ginny, who was standing a little way from Ron and Hermione; Hermione had just fixed Ron's tongue-twister problem before she turned to Harry.

"Well, it's better than Bat-Bogeys," she said, shrugging.

Harry nodded sarcastically. "So is this," he said, rounding on Ginny, who had started to back away, grinning. "Oh, come back here!"

Ginny sped off down the corridor, her laugh sounding more like a squeal, with Harry hot on her heels. They ran a circle around Nico—the poor boy tensed up—and then nearly threw Thalia into Neville and Luna.

"Oh, will you be grownups?" Percy Weasley called disapprovingly after them, but they paid him no attention.

Vena shook her head fondly, finally putting the tablet away. "Ah, let them have their fun," she said. "Gods know they haven't had any in a while."

Harry's anger evaporated when he finally caught Ginny. Hearing her laugh actually lifted his spirits. When she squirmed out of his grip and ran off again, Harry started laughing himself. For once, he didn't feel like a wizard with a hard history with serious problems.

Instead he felt like a normal guy chasing after a girl he loved and was yet to get her again. Being with Ginny again might not be a walk in the park, but it would definitely be worth the effort. The thought made his heart lift

* * *

**I made up the part with the wand and the foil.**

_**Crinus Muto**_** is one of the spells I found on the HP Wikia about change hair colors.**

**Found on Pottermore: Elderly witches and wizards still use the saying 'I'll take Cadogan's pony' to mean, 'I'll salvage the best I can from a tricky situation'.**

**~o~**

**Okay, so I managed to finish this one quickly. Well, as quickly as I could this week. I meant to put it up yesterday, but at least it's not a week late like before. The next chapter will be the reading of the Sea of Monsters, promise.**

**For this, I definitely need to work on my spell knowledge because lately I've forgotten quite a few, and I need to work on the comments from the others. It all feels a bit detached to me.**

**Other subjects include a few things that I've gotten to watch every now and again for the past two weeks: Doctor Who, Supernatural, and the Host.**

**For Doctor Who: I'm totally loving Clara. If you haven't seen the recent episodes, I'm not going to say anything, but honestly, I'm not looking for a big "wow-er" every week, and I hear most people were disappointed with "The Rings of Akhentan". I wasn't. I still have a few mixing feelings about "Cold War", but I enjoyed it nonetheless, especially the ending with the TARDIS; (Matt's face and the 'ha-ha-ha-ha' bit). And I enjoyed "Hide" a lot, though I ended up thinking of Rose a lot, which kind of bothered me because she isn't my favorite companion of the Doctor's. When she was with Nine, I loved her, but Ten—she kind of bored me a lot.**

**And I just saw "Journey to the Center of the TARDIS". All I can say is, "THAT WAS FREAKING INCREDIBLE!"**

**Enough said.**

**I used to watch Supernatural years ago, but after a while I stopped. Now I've re-started and I really wish I hadn't given up on it before. (Then again, I think I was eleven and it was giving me nightmares).**

**The Host: I wasn't really impressed. I've only read the first few chapters of that book and I gave up because I kept losing interest. I watched the movie and some parts of it were good. I loved that Jake Abel was in it. But in total, I wasn't all too interested in it. I guess it wasn't my cup of tea.**

**Oh, and I've read the most recent books of "The Mortal Instruments" a while ago. You know, "City of Lost Souls". I love Jace/Clary and Alec/Magnus the most. Sebastian has not failed in creeping me out a bit at all. When I'm done exams, I'll be able to move onto "The Infernal Devices".**

**And don't get me started on "The Vampire Diaries." I'm not talking about Klaus's recent surprise. I'm talking about Elena. Can somebody please—please—put her straight? I feel like slapping her silly right now.**

**~o~**

**Jonathan: Information about the visions of the past a future will come up in later chapters, but I don't know how often. I've mainly planned most of those for within the readings of "The Titan's Curse" and "The Battle of the Labyrinth". There isn't going to be any immediate magic verses sword-fighting combat soon, but I've found a solution that will allow everyone an equal share at both. It's for the future, so I'm not telling now *holds finger to lips***

**Juli Beawr: Oh good. So at least I've captured that side of her personality. Just kidding, but she really isn't too kind half the time. Only when she really wants to be. I enjoyed writing that scene with Percy and his daughter. The same can be said for this Percy and his daughter. James II will definitely have traits of James I, but the Wizarding children don't actually have much of a place within the next two Percy books. There isn't much of them because of that, but they all have a distinct mischievous side.**

**hellfire lord: How am I biased towards the wizards?**

**RedRangerBelt: The scenes seen in the fountain are only a quarter of what they'll really see later on, so by that time, the meaning would be clearer, but it's not going to be too soon. And I didn't really mean for this chapter to be exciting—more like interesting, because (in my POV) it was a bit boring. And Athena/Minerva did have a spat with Vena in the old days.**

**~o~**

**Hint: Minerva and Venaurora hate each other, but Athena is more civil to Venaurora's Greek side. Can anyone figure out the reason?**

**~o~**

**Next is a reading. Finally. I apologize for any mistakes I made above. I was trying to finish this quickly.**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


	33. My Best Friend Shops for a Wedding Dress

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

**So, here we have it. I've finally started Sea of Monsters. Within this one, I'm adding a bit more focus to the Stolls. What secrets do you think they have?**

**Song of the chapter: Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Three**

**My Best Friend Shops for a Wedding Dress**

* * *

_**In the distant future**_**:**

"STOP! THIEVES!" the businessman roared furiously at the three young people, all wearing black biker clothes and black shades, running away from him through the crowded sidewalk. "SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!"

"As if they'd do any good!" the girl called back to him as she and her brothers ran around the curb.

A man tried to tackle the taller of the two guys, but he was too slippery to catch. He laughed as his would-be captor bumped into a shiny black car.

"Come on, T!" the girl called to the auburn haired guy. "Move it!"

'T' laughed gleefully as he weaved, somewhat elegantly, through the crowd of bewildered civilians, half confused about what was happening and the other unsure of what to do. The three cheeky thieves were already two streets away from the scene of the crime when the shrill sirens of the police cars came into action.

"_Strípste aristerá!_" [1] the girl yelled to her friends and they ran across the street—with moving traffic nonetheless. The auburn-haired runner jumped on the hood of a moving taxi and used it as leverage to leap onto the hood of another moving taxi, then another, and then onto the sidewalk where the other two had paused for him.

"Hey! Watch it, punk!" one of the drivers called out, shaking his fist, but the three thieves were long gone into the shrubbery of Central Park. Once they were out of sight of onlookers, they slowed down, eventually coming to a complete stop.

They had no trouble catching their breaths. Three deep gulps of chilly air were enough to pull them back together; there wasn't a single bead of sweat on their skin.

The girl laughed and spun in a confident circle. "Oh, did you see their faces?" she asked gleefully. "Totally priceless, I'm telling ya!"

"I don't think they'll ever figure it out," the blond runner chortled, grinning triumphantly as he shook the bag in his hand before securing it on his broad shoulder. "We should get home, before they find us."

"Good idea," the girl said, grinning at him. "_Taxidi_!"

The air shimmered before her and a burst of purplish-blue light erupted into life, swirling like a vortex into nothingness. The girl turned and stuck her tongue out at the guys before jumping into the vortex and disappearing before their eyes as it sealed up behind her.

"Ah, not fair!" the blond grumbled. "She knows that's not my inborn ability!"

"Oh, but it _is_ mine," the auburn one said, smirking. "You might want to hold on, brother."

The blond continued to grumble long after he gripped tightly onto his brother's hand. "_Taxidi_!" the auburn head said and a new vortex appeared, a shade of purplish-blue with streaks of red. Then he jumped in and dragged his brother after him.

The wind howled in their ears as they sped forward through the vortex with thin streaks of colored streaks zooming past them at the speed of light. Then, out of nowhere, a white light appeared in front of the brothers and shot right out of it into a lush garden.

"Whoa!" the auburn one shouted with delight as he and his brother came to a stop. "Ah, I never get tired of that!"

"I do," his brother grumbled. "I hate it."

"Ah, don't be a spoil-sport!" The two brothers turned to see the same girl they were with before.

"Easy for you to say, Elizabeth," the blond one said, sitting himself down on a smooth stone bench. "You were born with it. I still haven't earned mine yet."

Elizabeth grimaced. "Don't call me that, Dealmaker," she reprimanded curtly. "Not all of us have your power, either. We actually have to make an effort with our robberies."

"Har-Har." He rolled his eyes at her. "So, what are we doing in the gardens?"

"I like it here," Elizabeth said, shrugging. "Besides, now we're actually have some gold to trade with Valdez. At least he doesn't mind the stolen kind." She looked at the auburn-haired one. "Right, Crossroads?"

"Yeah," said Crossroads. He looked at Dealmaker. "Should I go hold up the end of the bargain, or you?"

"I'll go, since I'm the negotiator of this gig anyway," Dealmaker said. "And just so you know, next time you all have problems, will you stop calling deals with me? It's awkward working with my siblings."

"Aw, you know you love it," Elizabeth said slyly. "We have all eternity to have fun."

Dealmaker smirked and backed away from his siblings, heading towards the edge of the garden. "Don't wait up!" he called over his shoulder.

Crossroads ran a hand through his auburn hair. "Oi, Dealmaker!" he called after his brother, who didn't stop walking. He sighed. "Conner!"

Conner stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Don't get scorched, you hear me?" Crossroads warned.

Conner snorted and rolled his eyes. "Gotcha, Crossroads," he said, turning back around.

"Conner!"

Groaning, Conner turned back to face Crossroads and Elizabeth, the latter concealing a smile behind her hands.

"What?" Conner asked, sounding annoyed. Crossroads raised an eyebrow. "I won't get scorched, I promise!" Conner insisted, but his brother didn't say anything. Conner sighed. "Seriously, Travis?"

Travis grinned. "What? I don't always like being called Crossroads! It's my job, not my name." He chuckled at the exasperated expression on Conner's face.

* * *

_**Back in the present day:**_

It was a long walk back to the common room. Within that time, they had explored more artwork arranged within the narrow hallways and vast corridors of Star Mansion and Ginny had reverted Harry's hair back to normal.

Conner personally went to her and requested that Ginny turn his hair blue, which she didn't after a moment's hesitation, so that for the rest of the walk, Conner was sporting a royal blue hairdo.

"Oh gods," Thalia giggled; the sight was too much, especially since it all stuck up on his head as though he had been electrocuted. "Change it back!"

"I like it this way!" Conner said, grinning.

"Well, you're not keeping it forever!" Annabeth said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Who said anything about forever?" Conner asked, but no one bothered to answer him. "It's like you have a permanence problem."

Annabeth glared at him as he threw himself back down in his seat.

"So, what do we do now?" Neville asked as he sat down, far more discretely than Conner had.

Vena shrunk her tablet and stuffed it into her pocket and then whispered something in Rachel's ear. Rachel nodded and ran off to the Demigod's Dormitories.

"Where's she going?" Thalia asked.

"To get the next book," Vena said, walking over to the fireplace where Apollo's seat used to be; it had vanished after he left. Vena waved her hand and a new one appeared in its place as she sat down.

Hermione smiled. "That looks like wandless magic," she commented as she and Ron sat in their usual spots. "The best of wizards have trouble with that."

Vena laughed, just as Rachel reappeared with a new book in her hand.

"That reminds me, where did the old one go?" Ron asked. "The other book?"

"I found it in the box," Rachel said as she handed the book to Vena. "I guess, once we were done with it, it had no more use down here."

Vena accepted the book from Rachel. "Hmm," she said. "It's another of Percy's." She held it up for the readers to see. "What do you think of it?"

The book cover was primarily a brownish-orangey color, unlike the other one, which was blue. Standing out on the middle was a huge, hideous orange eye with a pale blue iris, staring at three running figures on what seemed like a rickety bridge, connected two walls of a creepy looking chasm. At the bottom of the book, sailing out of a misty fog, was the image of a pirate ship.

The title of the books was '_**The Sea of Monsters**_' and written on the bottom of the book, in front of the fog, was the name '_**Rick Riordan**_'.

The first question asked came from Thalia. She asked, "Who is Rick Riordan?"

Vena flipped the book back towards herself and stared at the name for a moment. "Oh, that," she said. "Uh, he was the one who wrote the entire transcript. I guess the last book forgot to have the name on it."

"And how did he know?" Percy asked, bemused.

"How did Homer know about the lives of the gods?" Vena asked rhetorically, "Or any other poet in the ancient days? It's simple: they were chosen."

"And why is that?" Ron asked.

Vena waved her hand. "Story for later," she said. "Who was the last person to read?"

"That would be me," Rachel said, holding up her hand. "I think that means that it's Conner's turn to read."

Conner groaned as Vena tossed the book over to him. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," said everyone.

Conner stared at the book, glared at the eye, and then handed the book to Travis. "Can you read first?"

Travis snorted and pushed the book back to his brother. "I read afterwards."

Conner glared at him and reluctantly opened up the book. "Fine," he grumbled. He opened up to the first chapter. "**Chapter One: My Best Friend Shops for a Wedding Dress**." He stared for a moment, as did the others (Travis and Ron burst into laughter) and then said, "Um, what?"

"When does Grover get a wedding dress?" Thalia asked, confused. Then she shook her head when she remembered the answer. "Never mind, guys."

Grover blushed as everyone turned to look at him. "I don't want to talk about it," he said sheepishly.

Harry frowned. "How did you know it was Grover and not Annabeth?" he asked. Then he paused. "Uh, that came out—"

"First off," Annabeth said, turning pink, "Why would I need a wedding dress and second—" She stopped and said, "Yeah, Thalia, how _did_ you know it was Grover?"

Thalia shrugged. "Because Percy always called Grover his best friend," she said seriously. "No offence, guys, but I don't think Percy thought of you as his best friend just yet, Annabeth." Then she smirked. "Also, Percy told me when I was in the infirmary. He thought it would cheer me up after you explained what happened to Luke."

Grover groaned as Percy chuckled sheepishly. "Well, it worked," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Conner raised an eyebrow as the wizards exchanged apprehensive glances.

"Moving on, then," he said, turning to the book.

**My nightmare started like this.**

"Oh, it starts with a nightmare?" Ginny asked, groaning. "That's just brilliant."

Conner nodded and continued.

**I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings**

Conner hesitated, wondering for a brief moment what those might have looked like since he was unfamiliar with the term, before dismissing the thought and moving on with the story. Did it really matter?

**lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.**

**Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida.**

Grover and Percy exchanged dark looks.

**Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.**

**Grover is a satyr. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend),**

Everyone snickered as Grover blushed.

**you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hid the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.**

**Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.**

That didn't really seem to worry anyone in Grover's case; he was sitting with them. However, in the case of other lost satyrs, everyone frowned.

**Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.**

"You'd have thought they'd break," Grover muttered.

**Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from ... something.**

'_A Cyclops_,' Grover, Percy and Annabeth thought in unison.

**A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.**

Conner grimaced. It must have been a big monster. He was sure he knew what adventure this was, but the details were scarce in his mind.

**Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, **_**Have to get away. Have to warn them!**_

Hermione shot Grover a worried glance.

**I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops.**

Travis and Ron groaned at those words.

**No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.**

"That might explain the wedding dress idea," Neville said. "These chapter titles are so peculiar."

"Tell me about it," Thalia said, shaking her head.

**Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.**

**The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird, sour body odor only monsters can have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.**

Everyone looked a bit sickened by the description.

"That's vile," Vena commented, wrinkling her nose. "But in actuality, monsters have a more sulfur/rotting pork/week old garbage sort of smell, mixed with sweat."

"One description was bad enough, thank you!" Ron said, looking green.

"Sorry," Vena said sheepishly.

**Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.**

**Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.**

**Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"**

"Oh damn, it found you," Ginny groaned.

"Don't worry, I made it out," Grover said, grimacing at the fact that he had to wriggle into a wedding dress to do it.

**I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.**

**There was no storm. No monster.**

**Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.**

**I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape.**

"Monster?" Rachel asked.

"Nope," Percy said. "Nothing of the sort.

No one noticed Annabeth blushing—well, Vena did, but she didn't want to say anything about it.

**But then there was a knock on my bed room door—my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late"— and the shadow at the window disappeared.**

**It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape ... there couldn't have been anyone out there.**

Vena smirked as the blush on Annabeth's face darkened.

**"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it!"**

"Out alive," Conner added to the end of the sentence.

Percy snorted. "Dude, that's so not in there," he said.

Conner grinned. "Yeah, but it sounds better."

Percy shook his head.

**"Coming," I managed.**

**I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with. I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.**

**I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn't used Riptide for so long...**

"Why not?" Thalia said disapprovingly. "You want to get out of practice or something?"

Percy grimaced. "Uh," he said brilliantly.

**Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I'd swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.**

Thalia sighed. "You know, you live in Manhattan, and you can't find one enclosed space to practice?"

"And get caught by a monster posing as a police officer?" Travis asked innocently.

"What?" Thalia asked, confused.

"Hey, it's happened before," Conner added before turning back to the book without letting her answer.

"Well, for underage wizards, that's actually relatable," Hermione pointed out. "Until we're adults, we can't use magic out of school."

"Unless there's a serious emergency," Harry added.

"But these circumstances were different," Vena pointed out. "And Percy hadn't really thought up too many ideas because of his lack of need for his sword."

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked.

"It's explained in one of those chapters," Vena said, pointing to the book. "Wait until he gets to school."

Annabeth frowned. "Did you read this book before us?" she asked.

Vena rolled her eyes. "Well dear, I saw everything that happened," she said. "Why read the book when I have my memory?"

There was a moment of silence as Annabeth and Vena stared at each other. Words were unneeded for everyone to understand that these two probably didn't like each other. Conner, feeling a bit uncomfortable, started to read again.

**I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed. I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.**

_**Have to get away. Have to warn them!**_

**What had Grover meant?**

**I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.**

**The dream couldn't have been real.**

'_It wasn't a dream_,' Grover thought. '_That was my empathy link_.'

**Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework.**

George snickered on the last one.

Perce glared. "Just because you caused a few of my essays to explode does not make the memories amusing," he said curtly.

"But you're expressions were priceless!" George protested.

**Tomorrow, I'd be on my way to my favorite place in the world—Camp Half-Blood.**

**Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn't mess that up.**

**As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.**

"Typical," Nico said softly.

**My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast.**

Everyone made a face at the thought.

Vena smiled. "It's better than the thought of green eggs and ham," she said innocently.

Ron grimaced. "Eggs are not meant to be different colors!" he complained.

"Even I have to admit, that's taking blue too far," Conner said, rereading the line in the book.

**She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.**

"Miracle?" Ron asked. "I'd throw it back up!"

Percy glared. "You haven't tasted my mother's waffles," he stated, like that settled everything.

**I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform—a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America.**

"Suddenly I'm thinking of Captain America," Travis said, wrinkling his forehead.

"Really?" Conner asked. "I was thinking of Courtney Whitmore."

Travis glared. "Of course you were thinking of Courtney Whitmore," he grumbled.

"Boys, now is not the time," Vena interrupted. The brothers blushed.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, perplexed.

"Nothing," the brothers said quickly, leaving everyone who didn't understand them a bit more confused.

**Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.**

**The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"**

**"Yeah ... fine."**

"Liar," Ginny said softly.

**But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or ..."**

**She didn't need to finish. I knew what she was asking.**

**"I think Grover's in trouble," I said, and I told her about my dream.**

**She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the other part of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.**

**"I wouldn't be too worried, dear," she said. "Grover is a big satyr now.**

"Big?" Travis asked. "He doesn't look that big to me."

"He's shorter than me," Conner pointed out.

Grover glared. "Thanks a bunch, guys."

"No problem."

Vena rolled her eyes. "Oh, boys, behave."

**If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from ... from camp..." Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.**

**"What is it?" I asked.**

**"Nothing," she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like."**

**Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom's night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.**

**"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight."**

"Something bad is happening, isn't it?" Ginny asked in a resigned voice.

"Obvious, huh?" Travis asked, shaking his head mournfully.

**She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that ... I got a message from Chiron last night."**

**My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact us unless something serious was going on. "What did he say?"**

**"He thinks ... it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."**

"Postpone?" Nico asked. "It was that bad?"

"Pretty much," Percy said.

Thalia sighed. She really hadn't been too much help as a tree. Then again, she _had_ been poisoned.

**"Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"**

**"Percy ... I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly."**

"Your lives looks like it doesn't get a breather," Neville commented.

"You have no idea," Annabeth said, sighing.

**My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.**

**My mom looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting."**

"Who's Tyson?" Luna asked.

"A very important person to me," Percy said, smiling. "At the time, I didn't know, but it was pretty obvious later on."

**"But—"**

**"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school."**

"Words that I don't want to hear," Conner grumbled.

Rachel and Ginny laughed. Hermione just shook her head.

**That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes—a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she'd start to cry.**

"I hate that look," Ron said. "It makes you feel guilty."

"Tell me about it."

**Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.**

Those who knew Tyson smiled. No matter how frightening he could look, he truly was a big child on the inside, especially for a baby cyclops.

**I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it... could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"**

**She wouldn't meet my eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain ... as much as I can."**

"Well, that was just unhelpful," Ron grumbled.

Hermione nudged him with her elbow.

**Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train.**

**I didn't know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.**

Everyone, besides Vena and Percy, groaned.

"On the bright side, I had a normal week before that," Percy pointed out.

"That's not really helping," George said.

**In fact, I wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.**

"I take it that didn't help either?"

"Shut up, Conner."

"Geez, Annabeth…"

**As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.**

Annabeth blushed when Percy glanced knowingly at her.

**Then it rippled and vanished.**

"There, I'm done!" Conner announced, tossing the book into Travis's lap. "You're turn."

Travis groaned and sat up straighter than he had before. "Just perfect," he grumbled.

"You're being awfully quiet," Annabeth said to Vena.

Vena simply looked at her. "I don't always have the need to interrupt, you know."

* * *

**[1] Strípste aristerá – turn left**

**Okay, so here's some good news on my side.**

**I only have one more exam left, a multiple choice for Integrated Science, which is next week. That means I had some time to kill, so look what I brought you! Mind you, I was half-asleep when writing this, so sorry about any spelling errors. Besides, this was a short chapter, and I didn't really want to fill it out too much. Those are for the other chapters.**

**It's going to be Sea of Monsters now, and maybe when it's done I'll consider—note the word CONSIDER—starting Harry's, but I'm not entirely sure.**

**For anyone who has read by Doctor Who fic called "The Lifeline of Rose Tyler in Our Universe", I just wanted to know if I should continue with it. I'm not too sure, but I'd like to try. I kind of feel like no one wants to read it.**

**~o~**

**I saw the movie "Warm Bodies" earlier, when I had time off from studying. Luckily I only had Social Studies so there wasn't too much pressure on me. I tend to do fine in that subject. Anyway, I went in there all skeptical—there was never a zombie movie that ever made the slightest impression other than "Same-old, same-old"—but this one, I thought was quite sweet, in a way. And it made me laugh. I actually decided to see it a few more times.**

**I saw Star Trek Into Darkness. Benny! I loved Benedict Cumberpatch's role in the movie, and it felt weird because I love rooting for Ben and he was the villain. O_o I thought it was a good movie though. The only movie I really want to see is "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones", or even Divergent, which seems like it will take forever to come out.**

**Oh, and who has seen the cover for "THE HOUSE OF HADES" Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Oh my god, I'm fangirling to death over here! I was just jumping up and down. I honestly don't know how I'm going to contain myself for the next few months.**

**Which reminds me of the TVD season 4 finale: Stefan, no! :'(**

**Don't you even get me started on the Doctor Who Series 7 Finale. It Hurt! Not to mention the recent news with Matt. I'm heartbroken. He's my favorite Doctor! *cries shamelessly***

**~o~**

**So, here's where I thank all of you who wished me luck on my exams. It meant so much and it actually encouraged me to work harder.**

**Shout outs go to: FlamingWingsofIcarus, CherryPop0120, chintz, Poeta Senza Faccia, Juli Beawr, w0ifpup, cyclops1340, Axel's world, pixeljam, myrddin767, 4ever Percabeth, binglebop, SakraTheHedgie, mangaprinses, c0dy88, and Takagano Dai, for wishing me well. You guys are great.**

**~o~**

**I might not be able to answer all reviews because I'm tired right now, but I'll answer as many as I can.**

**About Vena and Athena****: Yes, there was a dispute between them in Rome and with the Romans, and some of you are on to it, but not for the right reason.**

**MVD: "Mika is Percy and Annabeth's daughter right?!" Me: Um…**

**zavi13: George's ear hasn't really come into the story just yet.**

**Jonathan: I know their relationship's going to be a bit awkward, but they deserve a chance to start afresh, at least.**

**RedRangerBelt: Percy isn't the first of them to get dreams of the future. That would be Annabeth (Chapter Twenty-Five: A Night of Secrets for All). I'm sure the others will be capable of it too. Celestial bronze vs magic solution will come up in a later chapter at least.**

**TimeLadyofTARDIS: Happily married. On a scale of 'Maybe to Yes'…**

**Starkid191: My favorite shows come in this order: Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time, Sherlock, The Vampire Diaries, Charmed, Supernatural. I have not seen the Supernatural season finale just yet, but I hear it was a shocker. And I'm loving Clara. I liked Rory, but their storyline grew old for me after a while, but I was still heartbroken when they left, mostly because the Doctor was as well.**

**~o~**

**So that's all for now. I'll see when I can get the next chapter up, yes?**

**~ArtemisIsis13**


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